


BEAST. (HAIKYUU!!)

by deityofdiscordanddeath



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Character Development, Dark Past, Developing Friendships, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Loads of Angst, Male-Female Friendship, Other, Slow Burn, Some Romance, Suicide Attempts, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-18
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2020-05-19 11:44:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 70,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19356382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deityofdiscordanddeath/pseuds/deityofdiscordanddeath
Summary: "The Beast thrives after its greatest and humiliating fall, and this time it doesn't have to strive in a powerhouse but a fallen one."Rana Mizumoto, a second-year high school student, transfers late to Karasuno High in hopes of putting her past in its place permanently and initiate a new beginning. But her past always had its way of following whenever, wherever as with no other club free for her to join, she was compelled to join the boys' volleyball team in hopes for her extra-curricular activities to make up for her academic situation. There on her adventure begins where she is met with new and old opponents, some she wished she could forget. And so to counter them without any fear, she must grow larger than the shadow of her past and evolve into the greater Beast of Miyagi.





	1. Chapter 1

With one hand playing restlessly with the strap of the bag, and the other moving back and forth with speed of light, she brisked through the silent hallway that led to her classroom as she found herself standing at its door in no time, sliding its wooden doors open roughly and rather loudly at that. When she finally halted did she feel her heart thump loudly against her chest, a feeling she was numb to while on the run. Sweat poured down her forehead all over face as loud breaths escaped her parted lips with her figure leaning slightly against the frame of the door. 

Her run had made her so flustered that she did not realise how everyone in the class was staring at her with eyes wide and mildly in shock. The teacher himself was clutching the textbook he held against his chest tightly out of the fright she gave all, but that wasn't the only thing she scared them all with -- her appearance was a significant factor too.

What everyone in the room saw barging through the door was a 5'4 heightened GIRL who was dressed in BOYS' fitted uniform that was tucked messily, dark hair tied in a high ponytail that leaned towards the left side of her head in the messiest way, shoes unlaced, bag worn in a boyish criss-cross manner and face looking red and sweaty from running, with nostrils flaring and possible fangs barred at them all as if she was here to devour them all in one gulp. They could see a fiery dark aura surrounding her short figure that made even the teacher want to quiver. She looked too scary to be a second-year high school girl.

Once she had caught her breath within mere seconds, she raised her figure of the door and took huge intimidating steps towards the teacher who had gained his composure and was looking confusingly at the girl making way towards him. She only stood three steps away from him when she stopped and gave him the most guilty smile ever, sending the class into a frenzy once again.

Placing one hand behind her head as she began to scratch it guiltily, she began to speak, "Sorry, ma- I mean sensei. I know the semester is slowly nearing its end and I joined long ago but I came back from my trip to join classes again." Her voice was heavily accented as it was obvious she was not from Miyagi prefecture but somewhere close around Tokyo; it was light and slightly feminine which reaffirmed her gender to everyone in the class.

The teacher who looked into the young girl's eyes, which he realised were two different colours, cleared his throat and nodded with a small smile on his face that reached not his ears as he replied in a very polite tone, "You missed a lot of things, but I'll let the principal deal with you on that one. For now, write your name on the board and introduce yourself. We have a lesson to pursue."

Nodding excitedly she snatched a small piece of alabaster chalk from his table, she took dragging steps at the board and wrote '  
水本ラナ' largely, writing 'Rana Mizumoto' underneath it in clear English. Once she was done, she turned at her class-fellows with a loop-sided grin on her face before introducing herself, "Yooo, I'm Rana Mizumoto and I'll be joining you all from today on. Do treat me good, will ya?" Her petrifying aura had completely vanished and what remained was this person who appeared too frank to be the same person that barged in their class a few minutes ago. She looked more..carefree, friendly, intimidating in her manner yet warm and wild. They all saw her peculiar eyes; one was green and the other was blue which they found oddly beautiful and unique. Her mildly tanned skin and dark messy hair were in unique contrast to her eyes, making her boyishly appealing to girls and boys alike.

After the introduction was done, she was ordered to sit behind next to a window to which she confidently saluted the teacher and sat behind, lips still locked in a loop sided grin and one arm pressed against her chin while the other drummed fingers slowly against the wooden desk. She could see guys and girls steal glances of her while there was one in her class who had his head slumped down on the desk. It was visible his hands were curled in fists, grabbing tightly onto his trousers, making him visibly distressed or overwhelmed with a negative emotion she could not configure entirely; it was hard to tell with his face smashed against the table.

When she thought further, she also realised that the boy with the buzz-cut was the only one not looking at her or paying attention to her entrance or when she had introduced herself to the whole class and teacher. It made her almost curious but pondered no moreover it as the teacher snapped at her, telling her to concentrate and catch up on all that she missed over the semester.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Once the classes that were spent idly with her merely paying attention to them were done, lunch break had commenced and Rana had declared it to be the ideal time for her to hang out with everyone but Kami-sama had other plans for her as she found her feet dragging her body slowly towards the office of the Guidance Counselor, a frown seeping irritation on her face. EVERY TEACHER prior to leaving class lectured her on going to the counsellor's office in a pleading manner which puzzled her a tad bit since she could not see why her office was so important for her to visit. What would she do, guide her to not skip an entire semester again?

That was all on her parents, not her! They were behind-

Never mind, this was nothing her brain cells needed to fret over. All she needed to do was nod her head and say, "Yes, sir/madam" as her lovely father had taught her in case of counsellors; become a robotic human in their presence, he said and as a daddy's girl she would never go against his kind decisions. Even if they meant she would miss more than half of a semester.

When her eyes finally met with the board that read 'Guidance Counselor' underneath which was stated 'Mister Ougai Suoh', she took one of her hands that were dug in the pockets of her cream trouser out and twisted the round knob before pushing the door open to be met with the man.

He appeared to be in his late sixties and had a typical 'old man' heart-warming smile she knew her heart was too weak to withstand irritation towards as only moments later a reciprocating smile had curled corners of her lips upwards. Despite his age he was a good height of five feet and eight inches. Dressed in brown Western suit and tie, he brought a hand forward for her to shake which she took happily.

"Mizumoto Rana, correct? It is a pleasure to meet you and an honour to be in your presence, young lady," he gushed which suddenly turned her entire mood off, making her want to roll her eyes at him but she suppressed such desire and instead replied with an artificial smile.

"The pleasure is all mine, sir. Please do not say any more of that. I have not achieved anything yet."

He only chuckled at that, nodding before gesturing her to sit in one of the ordinary wooden chairs placed next to his office desk and chair. She seated herself in the one on the left, throwing one leg over the other with her arms folded relaxingly over her chest as her eyes looked into the man.

Once he had sat down comfortably in his chair, Mister Suoh took a deep breath before beginning what he prepared a few minutes prior to her expected arrival, "The main reason why I wanted to call you down here was to discuss how you could make it to the next grade later on without your absence early on impacting your grades but as I pondered over it, I realised there's no helping that because your academic record has been relative..." he paused for a moment, looking almost pained whilst looking at a paper that displayed her past grades, "...poor."

She knew that too well. Academics was never her forte. The only subject she particularly excelled at was English and it was mainly due to spending most of her vacations in the United States of America and European countries where the language was spoken predominantly. Other than that, she only attempted to score above fifty or she did didn't try at all much like in case of math and physics.

Seeing a sheepish look cross over her face, he quickly decided to jump to the main topic today in fear he may displease her. Clearing his throat loudly he began again, "So in order to hide your poor condition in academics, I think it's best for you to join a club immediately and excel in it."

She threw her formerly tensed figure back into the chair as she immediately relaxed, a large grin with evil omens radiating from it, "Well then, that's easy! Music is my thing and I'm one hell of a DJ, so-"

"The music club is full, " he answered after going through the club members list thrice for her sake.

She pouted for a second, as a small 'oh?' escaped her mouth, almost feigning disappointment until the same evil grin overcome her face, "No problem! I'll make someone resign and take their place!" she began to crack her knuckles slowly causing a look of horror cross over the man's face who could see a dark aura surround her seated figure. It looked menacing and perilous. He needed to stop it from committing an act that could taint the girl's good name.

A drop of sweat appeared to the side of his head as he motioned his hands in an attempt to calm her down, "Heh, there's no need for that. You can join it next year. You can join any free club for now and do great in it to make up for your absence."

The dark blue aura was suddenly reabsorbed by her body as her face turned to normal surprise one as she pouted once again before nodding thoughtfully. Scratching her chin in thought, she began to wonder what other things she was good at until one more popped in her head, resulting in her snapping a finger excitedly and answering, "English Club!"

He shook his head, "No more places left on the club."

"Student Council?"

"No free position."

"Track Team?"

"Club is full."

Throwing her hands in the air irritatingly, Rana sunk back in her chair and frowned, "Then what club am I supposed to join? Those are the only things I'm good at, sir."

That was the question he awaited so patiently throughout the whole day. He wanted her to ask this so that he can lead her to where she truly belonged. Her true home, her paradise. A paradise she fell from almost four years ago.

The aged man placed his elbows over the desk and leaned forward towards the girl who was taken slightly aback but reacted not to it. Her eyes only glimmered curiosity. His eyes suddenly looked scheming, excited and almost waiting for something that she could not explain in precision.

"As you may have seen one of your class-fellow, Tanaka Ryuunosuke, look very depressed today and perhaps you might have noticed the mood of the entire school appear rather gloomy today.

'I totally did not.' she thought to herself almost shamelessly.

"It is all because the Karasuno Boys Volleyball Team lost to Aoba Johsai in the Fall Tournament which resulted in their elimination." That made sense to her, but she understood not how it had anything relatively to do with her. Rana opened her mouth to reply to him but quickly shut it when she noticed he had more to say. "In the same Fall tournament, the girl's team was eliminated from the Interhigh competition, and due to lack of members after many, including the captain, decided to retire along with no enthusiasm displayed by them, we shut down and disbanded the club which means there's no girls volleyball team anymore here. Rather, we intend to make the boys volleyball team mixed for the best female players who wish to play."

He inhaled deeply and looked deeply into her eyes that looked keenly into his' in hopes he would clear the cloud of confusion that swayed back and forth over her head. He got to the main point of this discussion right then, "I want you to join the boys' volleyball team as its thirteenth player."

The neutral expression on her face subsided into unexplained anger as she jolted up from her seat, slamming her fists against the wooden desk as a dark scowl covered her soft features, "NEVER! I AM NOT JOINING THE BOYS VOLLEYBALL TEAM OR ANY VOLLEYBALL TEAM EVER!" Her abrupt rash behaviour sent the aged back into his chair as he looked at her contorted face that seethed fury. Her emerald green and ocean-blue eyes had a fire raging in them as she spoke, the happy-go-lucky spirit of hers long fled. Inside her mind, a nerve had been struck with his straightforward demand whilst the flashbacks of an unspoken past began to play all too fast for her to withstand.

 

_One strike. All it took was one strike to send the substitute receiver to the ground. One strike that sent every person's eyes wide in shock, in horror, and fear; all eyes pertained remaining open except that receiver's. Once the moment of surprise and sheer silence had finished, people began to swarm around the person laying still on the floor; the coaches, the members of the audience, the players, all. All with the exception of the person who spiked the ball. They only watched the moments unfold with eyes wide but as lifeless as the person who was being tapped continuously on the face to awaken once again._

She shook her head furiously in an attempt to rid herself of the blackness before looking back at the man whose petrified facial expression sent her eyes wide as saucers, her feet leading her slowly cowering back.

Shouting angrily, letting the past resurface was no longer in her. She had trained herself to forget and not let it affect her anymore; she was born anew, a pure, not chained by the shackles of her past and what she experienced that day.

 

If she is truly a free bird, if the cuffs of her past have been truly broken, then she must act like a new person. She wasn't that person no more, she was someone entirely new and different. She had to take new steps in her life and not commit the same mistakes she once did; that is all.

Right?

Entwining her fingers behind her back, Rana gave him a wide smile and exclaimed cheerily, "Apologies for that! If you wish for me to join the boys' volleyball team, then I will do it!"

 

Her demeanour had entirely changed with the snap of mere finger which slightly surprised the man, struggling a little to catch on but mustered a smile before replying, "T-that's great!" Pausing for a minute to pull out an application form for the club, he pulled it out from one of his drawers, pushing it right towards her on the desk, "All you have to do it fill this out for me and take it to the boys' gymnasium after school. If they accept you, then you're officially in the team."

Nodding swiftly, she grabbed the pen he held out for her and took a careful look at the piece of paper which had 'KARASUNO BOYS VOLLEYBALL TEAM APPLICATION FORM" typed on it with bold letters.

She was placing her feet in the footprints of her past, but she remembered she was different now. That person who left the footprints in the past had been silenced and vanished with no trace within months. She was not the Rana Mizumoto from-

"Are you struggling with understanding the Kanji?" Pulled out from her thoughts by the gentle voice of the aged man, she looked up to find him sitting on his chair and looking in concern at her. He was genuinely worried about her after the small episode and the sudden change in her attitude but he could not do much for her because he was secrets to keep until the right comes for them to be unveiled.

Shaking her head with a polite smile, she looked down at the paper and began to fill it out until all she had to do was sign her name at the end of the paper.

There was no turning back now.


	2. Chapter 2

"CRAAAAAP! I'M LATE, I'M LATE!" loud screaming echoed through the halls of the school as the figure of someone running past the staircases and hallways with speed certainly faster than light was seen by the ghosts. Her heart was slapping loudly against her rib cage but she was paying no heed to it for she had to reach the boys' gymnasium as quick as it was possible.

She was already late to turn the application form to the captain whose name she still knew not which made her concerned a little because in this very moment her chance of failing this grade again was looming in the air.

The purpose behind her being thirty minutes late was the principal. The stern man had called her to his office and lectured her for turning up late to school, risking her grades and everything affiliated to her academics. He even went as far as to threaten to kick her out of school, but once he rechecked her very surname and connected dots, the man turned into a beaming child, speaking about how honoured he was to have a student like her in his very school and going as forgiving her for skipping school, granting her the permission to take a longer leave than that should she feel to it.

He was a peculiar man but nice enough to give her such a frank permit; not like she will let her father ever know about it. No, never should she commit an act as grave as that.

But none of that was her concern. She needs to reach the gymnasium before any kind of practice begins. And so, she let her feet take the lead and carry her to the outside of the school, and not a few minutes later she found herself skidding to a loud stop before the doors of the boys' gymnasium.

Once she had stopped running did her ears began to pick on something close to a lecture being given inside. Palming her hands against the cool grey steel doors of the gymnasium, she leaned an ear against the door to hear what was being said. Shivering at contact, she concentrated on the deep voice giving what she could configure as a 'motivational' lecture' as she pressed her ear harder to get a hold of the man's words better.

Within a matter of seconds, loud cheers erupted from the area which made her feel slightly peculiar as she leaned away, a little surprised especially knowing they were defeated yesterday by Aoba Johsai. She only tasted defeat once in her life and it was her first match against Niiyama Girls' Junior High volleyball team. That defeat, which came with the biggest and most humiliating lecture she came to hear in life, was enough for the rest of her existence.

Even though her heart had calmed down after the run, she felt it thumping loudly and agonizingly against her ribs upon hearing them cheering. Removing her hand from the door she pressed it against where her heart was, surprise evident in her eyes. She had not felt it beat like that for a very long time; it made her feel odd and warm emotions began to swarm all over her body.

Rana decided she should hate this emotion as she dropped both hands, clenching and unclenching them before forming a huge smile on her lips, sliding the large door open and skipping inside with a loud, "HULLO! Wie Geht es Ihnen?!"

Her entrance, her fake German accent and German itself resulted in cricket chirping throughout the hall as everyone stared at her weirdly. The rational side began to curse and beat the living daylights out of the emotional one inside her head, forcing Rana to smile awkwardly because both of her sides were busy fighting, one giving the beat and the other busy receiving it; neither one of them were willing to be an aid to her.

The silence becoming overbearing for both sides, Daichi stepped forward and asked a little straightforwardly, "Who are you and what can we do for you?" He was a good few inches taller and had a polite smile plastered over his face which eased her nerves a little. The man had tan skin and dark short hair which made him very handsome to her, but she spoke not.

Hell, once taking a good look of everyone in the court she could not spot anyone ugly. All of them were handsome!

But that was not to be discussed at the moment. Right now she needed to speak which she could not when the rational side was busy banging the head of her emotional side against imaginary brain walls they had set up unbeknownst to her.

'Can you two stop fighting and help me?' she shouted internally at the fighting parties. She saw the rational side glare at her before landing another SLAP! across the emotional her who screamed. It was obvious that neither was going to offer her aid at the moment. Rana was on her own.

Her prolonging silence followed by her eyes becoming lifeless caused everyone in the room to grow concerned. Everyone was a little puzzled in regards to her sudden bursting through the doors dressed as a boy, shoes untied with a medium length dark ponytail and different coloured eyes whilst grinning from ear to ear. She was short but cute despite her dress-up.

When the boys thought about it none of them had seen her in school until now, including Tanaka who was also looking at her with a muddled gaze, not knowing who this rough girl truly was.

When she returned to reality, she turned her attention to Daichi and smiled kindly before introducing herself, "Good afternoon, I'm looking for the Captain of Karasuno Boys Volleyball and was wondering which one of you is it."

Seeing as the girl had made a come back to Earth once again, he returned the facial expression she had on whilst looking at him almost eagerly. Giving her a nod he began to speak, "That would be me. Is there anything you need?"

Rana shook her head and replied, "I do not need anything but I wanted to give you my application form as a member of the team!" Shoving a hand into her side pocket, she pulled out the carefully folded application form that had been in her pocket since morning. Unfolding it quickly for him, she pushed it forward in his direction with the same smiling face.

"Is she a new manager you appointed, Kiyoko-san?" Sugawara asked Shimizu who turned her face to him before shaking her head gently because frankly, even she did not know anything about this girl. Her reply had put the team in more stupefaction. If she was not chosen as a manager by Shimizu then did someone else appoint her as such?

Daichi took a careful look at the details of the form and chuckled a little, turning his attention to the beaming girl, "I think you were given the wrong form, Mizumoto-san. It says here that you want to join the boys' volleyball team as a player."

"I was not given the wrong form, senpai. I intend to join the team as a player."

"NANIII?!" a chorus of loud voices screamed behind, them belonging to Nishinoya, Tanaka, Hinata and Yamaguchi who were all shocked at the girl's words that came out of her mouth. A girl joining a boys volleyball team?! They all had heard the sad news about the girls' volleyball club getting shut down and disbanded after all of the girls resigning from it and joining other clubs or concentrating on their studies, but a girl joining them was new and entire news of sheer bewilderment for them all.

Daichi turned around and glared at the loud-mouthed boys which caused them to shut up and began whispering hotly between themselves like medieval women having 'discussions' over tea tables. He returned to the girl and smiled pleasantly though he was still a little confused, "I was not informed about it, so I will have to speak to-"

"I was informed about it today over the conference table," everyone turned their attention to Takeda-sensei, the Japanese Literature teacher she met today who was one of the many teachers that told her to go to the guidance counsellor's office.

When he saw everyone looking at him in hopes for him to continue and add further onto his statement, "The Principal called us for a teachers conference and informed us about this change. He announced the Boys Volleyball team will be turning mixed and accepting only the best of the girls in. He wanted me to inform you all on your own, but-" he paused and chuckled a little, taking a hand behind his neck to rub it out of embarrassment, "-it totally slipped my mind until now."

Everyone went into mild shock including Coach Ukai who slowly nodded with his hands folded over his chest before turning his eyes to the short girl standing with Daichi. In appearance, she did not strike as much of a player from her figure and aura. She was short, looked lean from her clothing and did not just vibe like a volleyball player at all. He himself was not sure if she could make it to the team as Takaeda mentioned only the 'best' permitted to enter.

The rest of the team felt a tad odd at the news, a little unsure on how to take it but some decided to take it with a positive attitude instead of breaking the girls' heart and that adorable smile she was displaying in everyone's direction.

Sugawara being the first of the twelve clapped his hands together and nodded with a gentle smile on his face before speaking, "I think that's interesting. We should see her talent and then make a collective decision whether she makes it into our team or not!" Leaving the group of boys who were still trying to take in the news of being a team of boys and a girl, he walked over to the girl who was very occupied in figuring everyone's emotions out about this news and deciding who to impress and who she would need no effort in befriending.

With a gentle tapping on her shoulder, Rana was jolted out of her thoughts as turned her face to the person who disconnected her from her line of thinking, encountering a tall boy who had a gentle smile plastered on his face. He was fair in the skin, lean in figure with thick eyebrows and grey hair that was unusual for a boy of his age. He also had round hazel eyes that radiated sheer warmth which even she could feel.

Before she could complete analysing him he had already begun to introduce himself, "I am Koushi Sugawara, third-year, vice-captain and a setter for the volleyball team. It is a pleasure to meet you!" his voice was even gentle which made her want to melt a little. He was not only beautiful but a kind boy too! A person she should definitely befriend.

Bowing her head a little before rising and giving him her brightest smiles she began to present herself to him, "It is nice to meet you, Sugawara-senpai! I'm Mizumoto Rana and I hope I impress you and the Captain enough to make it to the team!" After finishing her sentence did she realise she still did not know the Captain's team which resulted in her stilling in embarrassment for a moment only to recover when she saw the grey-haired boy smile at her.

"Haha, you still do not know his name? Well then, go and introduce yourself properly to him and the team," nodding her head quickly, she turned around to meet Daichi stilled for a moment before giving her a loop-sided gentle smile, remembering they still had not introduced themselves.

Standing before him, she was going to open her mouth and apologise prior to introduction but her eyes suddenly went lifeless again as she felt her emotional side taking over, bruised and battered by rational side which was lying unconscious in the middle of her head next to a large bat that was definitely used to make it fall. To her, it appeared her emotional side had had enough of the abuse and decided to take things in its own hands. And THAT in formal situations was never good.

Before she knew it, Rana found her figure relaxing, placing one hand over her hip and whilst the bent in her direction with her thumb protruding at her as she spoke proudly, "I'm Mizumoto Rana, the best DJ in town and you, my dude?"

"Nande?" Everyone thought aloud with eyes comically wide seeing her behaviour switch entirely as there were no remnants left of the polite girl who wished to join the Boys Volleyball team and greeted Sugawara. What stood before them was a wild girl who had an odd street accent that nobody could pinpoint accurately.

Daichi, tad perplexed with her sudden change of attitude, chuckled nervously and began to speak, "I'm Daichi Sawamura, third-year and the Captain of Karasuno Volleyball and the team's wing spiker."

A boyish grin overcomes her face as she replied, "Alright, that's cool, my man Daichi. I respect you." Her style of speaking was not confusing to the Captain only; everyone was just as puzzled in her case but spoke aloud regarding it.

Seeing as the awkwardness was becoming overbearing for all the players in the area, Ukai stood up and clapping his hands loudly to capture every person's attention in the room which he succeeded in as he felt everyone's eyes on him including a green and blue one. Exhaling loudly he began to announce loudly, "In order to observe her strength and talent, I will split you lot into two teams and since Narita isn't here today it'll be easy to do a six on six-match with three sets." He paused for a moment, taking a hand and motioning it in a 'come here' manner in the girl's direction, beckoning her close to him to which she quickly complied as she walked over to him with her hands dug in her pockets, a boyish smirk decorated over her pink lips.

"I'm Keishin Ukai, the Coach of Karasuno Boys Volleyball Team. Now to put you in a team to test you and make a judgement on you, I need to know what position you play."

Truth to be told, Rana wanted to lie and tell him she was a setter, a libero or anything that she did not particularly excel at. After all, the last thing she wanted to do was stand where she once stood almost half a decade ago. She was petrified, fearful and worried for others in the team but all at the same time her success and future were at stake here. She let them slip once out of stupidity and depression; she did not wish to repeat that mistake and humiliate herself.

And so taking a deep breath, she let it out with much strain on her beating heart, "I'm an ace."


	3. Chapter 3

"Haha, hear that Asahi? You've got more competition over here" a short boy with black spiked hair that had a blond streak in them spoke, slapping a much larger guy than him in the back causing him to groan and scoot away in almost fear. 

That guy was tall; very tall. He stood at a good six feet if, she had to be honest, and looked intimidating on first glance with his brown hair tied in a tight bun and growing goatee, but with longer inspection, it was evident the boy was more on the timid and shy side. Though his height was a good assist in being the ace, he was lanky and was not very muscular in the physique. 

If this boy was her competition and needed to surpass for this match, she should not take him lightly at all. 

Ukai in the meanwhile had quirked an eyebrow hearing her mention herself as an ace because she looked anything but an ace with her height and overall appearance, but he decided not to judge her on basis of how she presented herself before all. Quickly making up the two teams mentally, he clapped his hands again to capture their attention and began to speak, "Alright, so Team One will have Tanaka, Hinata, Kageyama, Ennoshita, Asahi and Tsukishima while Team Two will have Daichi, Kinoshita, Nishinoya, Sugawara, Yamaguchi and Mizumoto." Pointing at Daichi he gave out his order, "Introduce her to others in both teams and explain their positions. Once she understands who is who and what positions they play, we will initiate this match." 

Daichi nodded before turning at the girl who was busy memorising every players' name including the ones from Team two, though she was troubled when matching the names to any of their faces. With a small tap on her shoulder, she was snatched out of her thoughts as she turned her face to the Captain with a confused face who smiled at her before beginning, "I will introduce everyone to you here, including your team members." 

Daichi motioned the boys to stand separately following their teams formed respectively whilst he and Mizumoto stood between the two side by side. First, his hand pointed at to the right where their team stood, his finger aimed at Sugawara who grinned at her softly, the smile almost motherly which made her eyes nearly water with emotions. "You already know Sugawara and that he is our team's setter so remember who will be setting balls for you." She nodded before the two moved to the next player, him being the same short boy with the blond streak, "That is Nishinoya Yuu, our Libero." The boy gave her a proud smile and lightwave which she returned accompanied with a smirk. 

Moving along he motioned at another boy who was about the same height as Daichi and Sugawara with light-brown hair and a little intimidating face with his eyes narrowed, "That's Kinoshita. He's a wing spiker." His finger pointed over at a much taller than the people on her team, she included of course. Despite his height and lean figure, he looked like a humble and soft person much like Asahi. His hair was black and short in length with flyaway strands sticking together up at the top. He had a hand behind his head with a nervous smile on his face directed at her as Daichi introduced him, "That is Yamaguchi Tadashi, our middle-blocker and pinch server." She smiled widely at him in a feminine way, fluttering her eyelashes and giving him a sweet look, which only caused a small blush to appear over his cheeks, exactly the thing she wanted. Nevertheless, he looked cute when blushing, Rana thought. 

He went on to introduce the other boys like the regular setter Kageyama, middle-blockers Tsukishima and Hinata who was a decoy too. Tanaka was a wing spiker as well as an outside hitter whilst Asahi not only performed the role of an ace but parts similar to the loud boy with buzz-cut, too. Ennoshita was a wing spiker too whilst Narita, the boy who was absent from the match today, was a middle-blocker.  

She enjoyed knowing all of their names especially Hinata and Kageyama who were the most adorable boys in the whole team; she intended to befriend and stick with them after this match. Tsukishima appeared more hostile than others which made her want to keep a decent distance from him whilst the rest just appeared friendly. 

Rana knew she would be enjoying being with the rest of the year. 

Once their introductions were over, all the players went on their sides and dispersed within their sides of the field. On Team B Sugawara took his position in the back right-corner with Nishinoya in the middle and Mizumoto standing in left-corner. Daichi took the right side whilst Kinoshita took the left with Yamaguchi in the middle. 

Team A, on the other hand, had Hinata out in front next to Tsukishima and Asahi whilst Tanaka and Ennoshita stood in the back with Kageyama who was serving first. 

Rana analysed everyone thoroughly on Team A, eyes fixated on Kageyama who stood behind the line with ball in his hand and eyes closed. She needed them to score a point or two in order for her to understand who was a threat and who was not. She knew Karasuno's team were mediocre at best according to rumours and were not overly talented like the teams she played against in the past, but underestimating is one mistake she would not ever commit for they were the same team that broke the infamous Iron Wall from what she heard coming out of the mouths of the girls. 

The whistle was blown by Coach Ukai as he stood standing next to the end of a net to observe as a referee while Takeda and Shimizu sat watching the movements the girl will be making like a pair of hawks. The coach stared with a scrutinising gaze as Kageyama jumped in air and hit the ball into the other side of the court, easily received by Nishinoya who threw at Daichi, making the captain toss it into the other side which resulted in Tanaka shouting a 'chance ball!' as he picked it up with no effort. 

He tossed the ball to Asahi who was signalled by Hinata to throw it up in the air for him to spike, something he understood and complied on as the younger boy slammed it into other team's court's grounds, giving them one point against Team A. 

When Coach Ukai turned his attention from the small celebration the team did to the girl, he was surprised to find her standing in the same place as she was prior to the match beginning, keeping a weather eye on the team. He could see she was inspecting carefully, surveying each member from the opponent team to contemplate who stands where hence the lack of reaction from her when the game had begun. 

The game continued as Team A scored three more points with Team B scoring none. Their 'ace' as she called herself had done nothing so far, standing in the back without moving much unlike the rest of the players on her side which irritated them a little on the inside, seeing she was doing absolutely nothing while the other team scored points in a streak. Ukai could see the vexation bubbling within the players of B Team with the exception of Mizumoto who stood dead silent, eyes on the opposite side of the court. 

Their expectations were high in her case until her performance so far as she was attempting to avoid the ball at all costs, the act of a weakling in this game. Rana was disappointing them all one by one.

But all of it was for a good cause. 

It was Asahi's turn to serve as ran towards the boundary before throwing the ball in the air and slapping it hard in the direction of the opposing field, making it enter with speed only Nishinoya could counter with his receive who threw it at Sugawara. The grey-haired boy intended to toss it to Daichi who came running from behind to spike it, but his hazel eyes caught the determined look in the heterochromatic eyes of a girl who signalled him to toss it to her. Without nodding whatsoever, he tossed it to her whilst Daichi faked a spike as the ball went past him to Mizumoto. 

Tsukishima and Hinata, who already saw the signal, moved their hands in her direction while she exhaled deeply. Rana knew this was the moment she had been waiting for the whole day as she pressed her legs hard on the ground, steadying herself before taking a huge leap into the hair, reaching a large height as the ball appeared before her vision and she used force and the velocity of the ball to slap it with such potency that it went past the hands of both Tsukishima and Hinata without any effort, crashing against the ground within bounds before bouncing off and onto the steel wall behind them. 

The court went silent at that with eyes of many wide, especially those who had carefully watched her jump, her posture, the way she had raised her right arm to slam the ball down with unthinkable prowess. 

"BOO-YEAH!" She shouted aloud, fisting-pumping into the air in celebration for her first competitive point in years. While her team had overcome their small momentary shock, they came over and congratulated her, patting her on her back including Sugawara who had a decent amount of faith in her from the beginning.

On the opponent side, others were happy for her as well with the exception of Tsukishima and Kageyama, who was too deeply delved in his thoughts. 

He had seen that move. That height she reached when jumping, her position whilst topping and the way she spiked the ball past the hands of two blockers who had left no space between their them for her to see as an 'escape' for her; he thoroughly observed their hands and blocking. Her strength was familiar to him too, but he could not bring himself to pinpoint it. His memory was failing him in that very moment.

The game continued with Team A winning the first set due to their early points which were well answered by the girl whose spikes were incapable of getting blocked by either of the six boys on their team, shocking most of the people in the room. Her strength hurt their hands more than they initially fathomed but none of them had the capability to stop a single spike.

They all were reminded of a certain person's spikes and strength, but they spoke not a word aloud about it seeing a cheery and smiling Mizumoto who stood with her team. 

Once their break was over, they went back into the game and played on the second set that came with Team B's victory which put Team A under profound pressure all of a sudden, seeing the last set remained which would determine the victor of this game and whether a certain girl would make it into the team or no. 

Huddling the team together, Daichi lectured them on what and what not to do to which she listened attentively, remembering how she had to do a decent amount of receiving when she had to rotate to the back, preferably passing the ball to Daichi for him to spike. Once plans had been made with clear intentions to win, she returned to the back with Sugawara and Nishinoya on her side. 

While the other team's players were occupied in dispersing towards their respective positions, she leaned back and motioned to Sugawara who leaned back to pay heed to whatever she intended to say, "Sugawara-senpai, there will be a certain point in the game where I want you to set the ball for me with great speed. I'll signal you when I want such a ball, so can you please do that for me?" 

He was a little surprised by her request seeing she was spiking his and Yamaguchi's balls with ease but obliged to her request with a happy nod that brought about a smile on her face too. 

The whistle blew and the last set commenced which comprised of both teams fighting for points vigorously as some spikes were received and some were granted points for. Defense on both sides was fully engaged in the game and working actively, not letting a single drop of sweat distract them from preventing the opponents score a point. 

Ukai was feeling rather content with their performance seeing as neither side was miscalculating the strength and vigour of the short female ace anymore, who was no less than a giant in their eyes. Her jumps made her overwhelmingly intimidating as she easily towered over blockers would be jumping simultaneously; all this added onto her appearing like an ace with not only height but strength on their side. She was a commendable player which only sent one question into his mind as well as others: what school did she come from and wherein the hell did she get trained from?

The game neared its end with the score being 23-24 in favour of Team B which only needed one more point to win the game. The tension in the court rang like muted church bells; it was silent but perceived by everyone well and thoroughly including Mizumoto whose lips were contorted in a frown as she stood in the back with Sugawara, nowhere near close to the front lines like she needed to be in order to score the winning point. 

The manager and teacher were sitting on the edge of their seat, not even bothering to blink in fear they will miss a moment. Ukai and Takeda were clutching onto the fabric of his red tracksuit, whilst Shimizu was silently digging her fingernails into the clipboard that remained tightly in her grasp. They only waited for whatever that would happen in the next moments or so.

Team A had scored the previous point so Kageyama was serving which made her feel a little tensed because the boy was a very good setter and scored a good few points with his serves as none of them reached on time to receive his balls. 

She turned her attention over to Sugawara who looked equally distressed before turning to meet her eyes. With a telepathic conversation that took place between the two to reminisce on her earlier words, the boy gives her a tight nod before turning his eyes to the court like her, ready to finish the game. 

Kageyama, who stood feet away from the boundary with the ball in his hands, came running towards the line before jumping in the air and serving the ball right into their court. Nishinoya received the ball with much difficulty as he passed it to the nearest player with him that turned out to be Sugawara, who caught the ball and immediately turned where Mizumoto would be standing only to find the spot empty.

 A tint of concern appeared over his face for a mere second which vanished and he found his face contorting into what resembled shocked as he witnessed her run between players while eyes were still on him. 

The following two seconds went by slowly for the girl and boy ou during which he witnessed the signal being hailed at him; a glint in her eyes was his signal which he caught without a hitch before he set the ball towards her with all his might, sending it where he predicted she would stand as the ball travelled there with meteoric speed. The girl ran rapidly towards the fast-pacing ball thrown diagonally from the left corner towards the front-right until she halted in her steps before bending down on her tip-toes and jumping high in the air with her hands spread out like; her pose resembling an eagle ready to take a flight.  Finding the ball right in front of her, she raised her right hand higher than her bent left one and slammed it down against the ball, sending it on the opposing court with unimaginable strength as it slapped with a loud fulminating sound upon the wooden base.

Loud cheers echoed off the walls of the gymnasium with the team running over and hugging each other. Mizumoto was silently shocked with her strength and the point that put her tram ahead until she felt large hands patting her shoulders. Turning around she found her team-mates smiling largely at her including Kinoshita who did not look as intimidating anymore but rather charming.  

Tsukishima, Hinata and Ennoshita's eyes were sent wide because not one of them saw her coming as they had stood before Daichi to block his ball, but it never came in his direction. They did not catch Sugawara tossing the ball briskly in her direction, they did not catch her running between her players, they did not catch her infamous jump nor did they catch the spike she performed.

Ukai and Co. were equally surprised. They watched the moments unfold, but they could not bring themselves to believe it. Her strength, her hit, her speed, agility and stamina; all of them were unbelievable. She had scored a winning spike past everyone without them noticing. She was short and used her height to full advantage much like a certain footballer named Maradonna. 

The next point was scored with much ease by Daichi who has the ball tossed to him by Sugawara after Rana received properly for the first time, securing their win against the opposing Team A as expected. While the other side crosses the next to congratulate them on the win, especially her for the powerful spikes, the coach and rest had come to a unanimous decision about her. And so with a clearing of the throat, he had caught everyone's attention, including the girl who stood between Hinata and Nishinoya with a large smile. 

"You guys can celebrate and talk later because we have made our decision about Mizumoto Rana that we'd like to announce, but before that, I'd like to hear everyone's judgment on whether she gets to make it into the team or," her eyes turned to all the boys that surrounded her with a hopeful face. Hopeful because she worked hard today and she needed to make it into third year next year. 

They all smiled simultaneously with the exception of Tsukishima and answered in poor sync,

"MIZUMOTO IS PART OF THE TEAM!" 

 


	4. Chapter 4

Everyone had decided to take a small break after their intense match and the players were all sitting outside of the gymnasium, conversing either with Rana or between themselves. 

Her mind was still incapable of processing what had happened today because she was occupied in giving her team a win and trying to make it into the club in hopes she won't repeat any other grade. The thinking process, Rana kept for home because she now sat amid the boys who were asking innumerable questions in regards to her play and other things. They had seated themselves on the staircase of the gymnasium with her in the middle right between Hinata and Nishinoya who were more insistent on asking with their inquiries than the rest. Sugawara, Daichi and Asahi sat on the lowest stair, deep into their conversation about the Spring tournament whilst Ennoshita and Kinoshita were occupied among themselves. Tanaka was seated beside the short libero similar to how Kageyama was sitting next to Hinata. The wing-spiker was listening intently to the girl, but Kageyama was not. 

The young setter was immersed in his thoughts as he replayed her spikes in his head. The prowess, the speed and stamina held resemblance to someone else who was well-renowned in their world of volleyball. He could not get it out of his mind. When she leapt into the air, her hand position and entire posture resembled an eagle ready to flap its wings to fly in the air freely with no restraints whatsoever.

"So are you a transfer student, Mizumoto-san?" Hinata questioned excitedly. The boy had most energy out of all the players she came to know today with Kageyama following. He appeared to want to know everything about her that had an affiliation to volleyball which she secretly found adorable. 

Giving him a nod she replied, "Yep! I gave the entrance exam at the same time you all  did but came to attend school now." Though her emotional side was still in control, the game had made her more level-headed and brought the rational side of hers to co-operate with the other which created an imperfectly perfect balance of friendliness and caution.

"Woah, so why did you not come to school throughout the year?" He asked, a little surprised like some other boys who had heard her answer. They were curious to know why she joined them so late. 

Rana gulped loudly in fear as she remembered that fateful day she was getting ready for her first day of school when her father barged in through the doors, screaming how he had gotten all of them the tickets to Australia last week without informing them and they had a flight in two hours.

Needless to say, she reached Australia with Karasuno's uniform on and people looking at her peculiarly. His excuse for this was a shameless 'I'm sorry, I wanted to surprise you all.' which everyone in the house was unimaginably displeased with. 

Explaining the story in short words to them sent their eyes wide while a particular blond snorted in the back who was occupied in speaking to Yamaguchi. Some of them could not believe she has seen places other than Miyagi while some were just amused by her family's antics; they did not expect anything less from someone who shared blood with her. 

She had an impact on everyone after this match. They could see she had a few..loose screws up there, but when it came to the game itself she was completely a different person. Her concentration, hard work and dedication aimed at it was unmatched and had surprised everyone in the room. Outside of the game, she looked harmless and too carefree; but during the game, she looked intimidating..and almost petrifying with the gaze she grips her opponents in. They had seen her when she was spiking balls; she reminded them of a predator ready to render her prey's pace and take them down with no mercy. 

Her style of playing had everyone curious where she came from, for they knew this wasn't just 'natural', nay. Such level of greatness must have innumerable blood, sweat and tears behind it.

Kageyama who was growing uncomfortable with the question that had been dwindling in his thoughts ever since the match had ended found himself raising a hand and sputtering, "Mizumoto-san, where did you learn to play like that from?" A part of him knew the answer but he wanted to confirm it all from her.  

She paused for a moment, thinking as if it were a mental math question, "Nowhere. I haven't played volleyball in three years. This is my first time playing competitively since then." Rana had ended her sentence with a chuckle out of embarrassment but that did not refrain from the boys' eyes going wide especially Hinata and Nishinoya who led out a 'Woaaah' in surprise. 

Kageyama was still persistent to get the desired answer out of her as he shook his head and spoke with determination glimmering brightly in eyes, "You must have played in a powerhouse school to be able to play like that!"

Powerhouse school. It brought back memories for the girl who wrapped a tight hand around the hem of the beige sweater she had been wearing. The eyes that were gleaming as she was answering everyone's questions happily had turned dark in near mental pain and suffering that no one had the eye to witness. Closing them for a mere nanosecond, she turned to Kageyama and opened them, an artificial brightness within them accompanied with a smile as she tilted her head and replied, "Junior High is not important because it was irrelevant to me." 

The boy was left silent and not offered the time to question anything anymore as Ukai had blown a whistle to call them back again to play and before the setter knew it, he had already forgotten about the conversation and his queries. 

 

* * *

 

"Alright, enough practice for the day. All of you, go home." The boys and girl were told to which the obliged happily after cleaning up the gymnasium. 

They had played various matches against each other which went by with much tension yet playfulness. It was safe to say that Rana had begun to get along with the boys who congratulated her each time she penetrated the 'walls' with her unstoppable spikes. Her talent was evident to everyone on the team including Ukai who had carefully begun to analyse her, her strengths and weaknesses with the latter being a decent receiver because the balls had their way of going past her without the girl even realising until she heard a loud bounce and apologies began to roll off her tongue. 

It was late at night and all of them were ready to leave with her included. Rana had intentions to take off before everyone else but her run was halted by Hinata who approached her and asked, "Do you wanna walk with us, Mizumoto-san? Daichi over here is buying us pork buns!" 

Giving him another polite curve of lips upwards she shook her head in decline, "I do not eat pork, but thank you for the offer. I'm going to leave, have a good night." With that said, she got on her toes and made an unexpected run, surprising almost everyone including Daichi and Sugawara who watched her figure disappear in the night. 

The girl who was running like a lightning bolt doomed to crash against the ground had her heart thumping wildly against her chest with her mind that had gone on haywire now. Alone now, her mind had made a return to the darkness within her that re-emerged in her lonesome time once again. Despite her legs taking her towards her house, her line of thinking was deep into the past mistakes; the gravity of it overwhelming her. 

Reaching her house, she slammed the door open and tossed her shoes off before making a run upstairs without paying any heed to the people who had seen her enter and run upstairs to her room. 

Shutting the door behind herself loudly, she leaned against it and began to dissolve towards the ground as she brought her hands in her vision, seeing them red and shaking vigorously from the unbearable anxiety and throbbing in her chest. The redness took her three years back on another court, standing in the front lines of her team with a darkened face with her lips curved down in hatred and raw fury. Those emotions had sent her travelling down a path of the biggest humiliation she could experience in her sole existence; something she wished to never encounter or feel within her again in life. 

Before Rana knew it, her vision had begun to go blurry from the tears that had accumulated in her eyes, slipping down and forming a stream that met at her chin as she began to continually cry whilst hugging her legs to her chest and murmuring low 'I'm sorry' over and over until she cried herself to sleep from all the tiredness. 

 

* * *

 

 

The next morning she woke up with her eyes burning and all red, the area around puffy which resulted in a scream reverberating and waking everyone up from their slumber, some cursing her half to death for disturbing their beauty sleep.

It's safe to say her father had to get rid of the puffiness with frozen spoons and forks to make her look presentable enough to attend school tomorrow. She was dressed in her same old boys uniform with the black trousers and white blouse over which she had a black coat that she left unbuttoned for the girls to fawn over. Today, she decided to take a sweat bag that contained a sweatshirt along with the entirety of tracksuits accompanied with new Nike joggers. 

 

 

Her school day went by her failing attempts to understand the lectures without speaking to the boys in her new club with the exception of Tanaka who she asked notes from here and there to assist her. He gladly gave them to her with eyes shining out of happiness, seeing someone considered him good enough in studies to take his notes. 

When break had commenced she intended to sit and spend her day with Tanaka but she found herself getting surrounded by girls whose cheeks were dusted pink. Rana was not surprised to find them around her, so she gave them her signature boyish smile before digging her hands into her pockets and quirking a curious eyebrow at them.

One of them with cute pigtails and a height shorter than she took the lead and began, "Mizumoto-san, we were wondering if you could spend the break with us?"

The smile grew on her face only grew larger at the girl's words before shrugging an artificial uninterested 'sure' as she found herself walking away with those blushing girls that could not cease complimenting her. 

Tanaka had been in the class the whole time and seeing the girl in his class get more girls than him and rest of the boys sent his jaw to the ground, seeing her walk away with them whilst they were showering her with flirtatious sentences going along the lines 'you're so handsome, Mizumoto-san', 'the boys uniform suits you better than the boys, Mizumoto-san'. 

Inhaling furiously with fire dancing in his eyes, he jumped out of his seat to inform Nishinoya of the perilous events that just took place before his very eyes.

 


	5. Chapter 5

The recess bells resounded throughout the halls of the school, indicating the day was over for all, including a sleep-deprived Rana who was making way to the gymnasium with her sweat bag slung lazily over her shoulders, eyes half-lidded from all the mind-numbing discussions the girls around her had. They all revolved around her joining the boys' volleyball team as the first class, how the boys in the team were and how she played. One of them, the cute girl who spoke first, even asked if she could come to practice to watch her but rejected it with a poor excuse like 'I'm too shy to let people watch me yet.' It was safe to presume the girl was tad disappointed but still content to know that she'd get to watch her one day.

Rana almost felt bad for not catching her name despite the level of enthusiasm she displayed only towards her. She did not even ask about the boys unlike the other girls; she appeared to be intrigued with her alone. It made her feel special, but such attention no longer meant anything to likes of her. It came with a hefty price; it always did. 

Dragging her feet slowly against the cemented pavement of the path that led to the gymnasium, she heard the sounds of shoes squeaking over the polished wood of the court followed by slaps and slamming of the ball onto the field which indicated some of them had already arrived before her.

"Yoo!" She shouted aloud to anyone in the gym room within hearing range, placing a tired hand over the door. Surveying the room with a careful gaze she found Hinata and Kageyama there who were looking at her exhausted figure leaning ever so slightly over the door frame, eyes droopy and tired.

"Ohayo, Mizumoto-san!" "Ohayo, Mizumoto-san." both the boys had returned her greeting, one more enthusiastic than the other. Nodding politely in their direction with a tired smile pulling corners of her lips upwards, she dragged her legs over to a corner of the room and sat down with her back leaning against it. Sleeping in a wrong position last night gave her a backache that she could not brush off no matter how hard she stretched to get rid of it. 

The two noticed her fatigue and rested their play, turning their gaze to the girl dressed in Karasuno's black tracksuit uniform who was sitting on the wooden ground with her head leaning against the steel walls, eyes threatening to shut. They turned and met eyes for a moment initiating a silent conversation between themselves before giving nods and going over to her. The pair sat on either one of her sides with Kageyama holding the ball between his legs while the orange-haired boy had the palms of his hand pressed against his knees out of the growing anxiety churning in his stomach. 

Rana still had not sensed their presence next to her, so she let her head sway back and forth out of tiredness. Funnily her weary behaviour was making both boys lose their confidence in conversing with her about what they had planned to ask her over lunch. She seemed like she did not have proper sleep and overworked herself as her legs were bent with her elbows resting on top of each knee; her head had finally stopped rocking and was pressed against the wall in rest. The girl' pink lips that had been glossed over with a lip balm recently were slightly parted, giving a peek of her straight white teeth. Their eyes trailed down to her strong jaw which made her face's shape look sharper than her small but pointy nose did.

It was at that moment they realise they were staring too much at her, resulting in them jumping out of their positions with red cheeks which looked brighter on Hinata's face than Kageyama. It was clear she had no plans of waking up which made them drop their intention to inquire about her junior high as they found themselves walking outside of the place so that they do not disturb her sleep at all. Their faces were facing the ground out of embarrassment after their actions, though both could not help but find her cute despite her odd behaviour and personality switches.

However, a certain group of older boys did not let them dwell in their thoughts revolving around their new female wing-spiker as their captain spoke aloud, "Hey there, Kageyama and Hinata where are you two walking when the gymnasium is the opposite way?" Their heads perked up at that and a certain grey-haired boy caught onto the redness spread of their cheeks.

"Why are you two so red? Did you play too much?" He asked with an innocent smile, similar to his line of thinking. Unlike him, the blond of the group knew at the back of his head why the two were so red.

"More like they got smitten too much," snickers from the boy and his friend followed by that.

"Wanna say that to my face, Tsukishima?!" Hinata and Kageyama, infuriated and embarrassed by the comment, almost made a run at him as they spoke at the same time whilst the boy got a light scolding from Daichi and Sugawara simultaneously.

It was at that moment when Coach Ukai and Shimizu appeared which resulted in them shutting up almost immediately. They all turned towards the gym and walking towards the gymnasium with the black-orange duo dragging their feet against the rough concrete floor, dreading it all for they knew who they would be disturbing with their entrance. Neither one in the pair could bring themselves to stop the group out of fear they would be found suspicious and made fun of by likes of Tsukishima; so really, all they could do was walk slowly over there with heads hanging low.

As they infiltrated through the doors each of them began to stop one by one upon their eyes falling over the dormant figure of the girl, including the two boys who found her sleeping in the same dozing in the same position they had left her in.

Tanaka and Nishinoya who saw her only after Ennoshita pointed her out suddenly forgot the anger they had gathered towards her for stealing all the girls in her class from the male species as they grabbed each other's hands, entwining their fingers with comical tears gushing down their face like a river.

"Noya-san! She looks so cute when sleeping!" Tanaka led out in a low voice, seeing her eyes shut, those parted lips and her figure sleeping in the awkward position. The said boy only nodded furiously, incapable of mustering words. She did look adorable!

Daichi and Sugawara smiled at the young girl who must have been so tired she ended up falling asleep in the gymnasium. The training from yesterday must have taken a toll on her body which was probably not used to working this much. After all, according to her, she had last played volleyball in Junior high.

However, a certain coach did not share their sentiments as he shook his head in disappointment before politely asking Shimizu for her clipboard and proceeding to walk over to the sleepy girl's figure.

With one eyebrow twitching out of unspoken fury, he raised the clipboard in his grasp and smacked it straight on her head loudly, causing loud gasps to escape from the loud-mouthed of the team.

The smack shot her eyes open, get on all fours, bowing down and scream, "I'M SORRY LANDLORD I WILL PAY THE RENT MONEY INSTEAD OF BUYING DRUGS WITH IT." That did not help the situation at hand at all as this time everyone's eyes went even wider with that; even Tsukishima could not help the shock that betrayed his regular monotonous face.

The twitching of Ukai's eye worsened as he went on one knee to her current height with her head pressed hard against the ground. Taking the board he began to smack her on the head, "One (smack!) you can't receive a ball even if your life is depending on it and second (smack!) you decide to take a nap and dream about using your rent money for buying drugs in the school gymnasium? (smack!)" The hits weren't harsh at all. Unbeknownst to the boys who were picturing this as an example of child abuse, Ukai was gently tapping her on the head.

He watched her slowly raise her head out of caution, meeting eyes with him for a moment before glancing to her left and finding her new teammates looking almost fearful for her, Tanaka already praying to Buddha for her safety, and sighing out of relief. Within a mere second, she had jumped to her feet, rubbing the back of her neck out of childish embarrassment and chuckling whilst apologising for her 'nightmare' simultaneously.

Seeing she was about to act like a musician who lived on the streets and played for underground clubs, Ukai shouted at them to get back into playing and training, saving not only himself but others from her insanity.

 

* * *

 

The match between Red and White teams had ended with 19-25 in favour of Red Team after Rana had been subbed in place of Kinoshita so that she could do more receives which resulted in their loss. Her receives on defence were still poor which required work, but Rana could not have helped it after the tiresome night and the school day. Her body was still taking time to adjust to such a strenuous schedule.

Whilst the boys helped one another in stretching, she using the aid of the heightened stage to do some leg stretches seeing as they were still reluctant around her due to her being a girl on the team. Her breathing rate was normal after the countless sets they played in defiance of the beads of sweat that continually poured down her forehead. Her stamina was one thing everyone praised because this girl was packed with unexplained levels of energy that send even likes of Hinata into puzzles.

Despite the level of mental exhaustion she was holding, the girl was very disappointed in herself for being an awful defender for her team seeing as it could make her a liability on the team which may result in a loss. Everyone on the team was so determined to get to nationals despite the powerhouses standing before them like indestructible walls. The last thing she truly desired to do was let them down due to her stupidity. To Rana, it was still very much a mere club that would put a veil on her academic failure but even to achieve such 'veiling', she had to aid them in reaching the tops, or all of this mental stress would be going to mere waste.

So when she overheard Hinata asking Kageyama to give him more tosses she could not stop her feet from running over and asking them to let her receive Hinata's all types of spikes, including their freaky quick. The pair was a little taken back finding the determination and seriousness within her eyes

Ukai smirked and ushered the three to play their parts together because it seemed to him the girl was finally taking her weaknesses seriously after a day of being reminded of them consistently through play and mouth.

However, just when the three got in their respective positions, Daichi commanded them not to play anymore as they still had to clean up the place before locking up. Bemused by his words, all three nodded and began to walk back to where they had been relaxing previously.

Just when Rana had lifted her leg to stretch it behind her again, the doors of the gymnasium were pushed open with Takeda sensei bursting- no, tripping in right at the doorstep, sending everyone into worry as they all ran over to ask about him.

Energetically lifting his head, full of hope and determination, he questioned, "We're going right?" No one in the room knew what he was speaking about including who turned to Sugawara with a confused look, the boy replying with a shrug.

"Going where?" Hinata had finally asked on everyone's behalf whilst Kageyama pointed out his bleeding nose to which he paid absolutely no heed as he pulled up the paper in his hand to show and replied aloud,

"TOKYO!"

All of them went into a moment long shock before the questioning initiated once again starting from Hinata and Rana who spoke in sync, "Tokyo?" They got a determined nod from their Japanese literature teacher which quenched the thirsty of inquiry as Hinata smiled broadly.

"Tokyo.. you mean Nekoma?!" The happiness in his voice implied that he had met them or maybe played a good match or two with them. Rana knew the team from the gossip that took place in her former school within Tokyo which went along the lines of their current squad's greatness and the possibility of them getting into the Nationals. Too bad for them, they did not make it.

It was not like she truly cared back then anyways. She wanted nothing to do with volleyball, so whenever somebody tried to speak about the school's volleyball team with her Rana shut her brain down and gave 'yeah' as a reply to whatever sentence the person ushered as if on autopilot.

"Yeah, but it won't be just Nekoma this time," Their teacher paused, clearly having more to say and explain as he began once again, "The Fukurodani Academy Group. It's a group of schools from Kante region that includes Nekoma. They hold practise matches all the time and this time thanks to Coach Nekomata, Karasuno will also be able to participate in these practice matches!" Nishinoya and Tanaka couldn't prevent themselves from wowing aloud at that.

Even Coach Ukai felt the urge to add more onto what he said about the matter, "Relationships like that are built over the years, so it's not easy to get in without connections. We've got to thank Coach Nekomata for that." He then turned to everyone on the team with a large smile, hands placed against his hips, "We've also got to thank sensei who I'm sure kept persistently asking him."

Though he tried to deny it, everyone on the team gave a bow out of gratefulness anyways which surprised him a little but accepted with a smile anyways.

"Over the years we lost our connections with the other schools in the prefecture that we were once close with." His words made all of them raise their heads in curiosity and listen further to what he had to say, "There are many schools where the coaches that were once close with Coach Ukai are gone. So, we shouldn't miss a chance like this!"

His words stemmed a cheery and determined reaction out of almost everyone as they cheered aloud with the exception of Tsukishima and Rana, one not interested in the entire ordeal whilst the other just staring at the floor with head full of thoughts that were ringing in her ears, reminding her of things she had sworn to forget. The memories were back to haunt her with each step she placed in the footstep of her past self, but the stubborn reminder to forget put her mind at a crossfire as to where she should lean towards.

All of them had set their minds, making promises to do what they couldn't do at their last encounter against each other. They were too occupied in their happiness, hopefulness and determination to see the hanging face and quivering hands of their new ace.

And for that, she was more than thankful.


	6. Chapter 6

After another long and mind-numbing day in school, Rana had dressed into her tracksuit and was standing outside of a dull grey 'u'-shaped building that comprised of locker rooms for different sports teams all over the school, awaiting a particular group of dozen boys that she shared a club with.  

The sun was nearly an hour away from setting as the sky maintained its blue hue with elongated alabaster clouds dancing back and forth, something that always assured her she won't pass out due to a heart stroke despite the cool weather. The sun did not sign a truce with her even in the coolest of weathers as it tended to give her burns or put her unconscious should she stay underneath it without sunscreen and something to maintain normal body temperature. 

At that moment where Rana waited for the boys to join her on a run, she was squatting with one leg spread to stretch as she reached a hand to touch toe-tip of the joggers she had on. With music on blast in her wireless earphones, playing hip-hop music remixes, her eyes were tight shut to assimilate every beat of the remixed versions into her depths whilst performing the same stretch with another leg. 

Listening to various remixes gave her multiple ideas on how her remixes should be as a DJ and a musician herself, so concentrating on not only music but her club felt like a wonderful type of multi-tasking for the girl as she experienced a powerful shiver go down her spine when the beat dropped in the most refined manner ever. 

Outside of her world of music Rana felt someone call onto her which resulted in her opening her eyes once again to meet them with the team members that stood before her, almost throwing her back on her posterior. When did they get here, she thought to herself. Was she so absorbed in her music that she did not sense them coming?

Reaching a hand to her ear and tapping the 'off' button her headphones, she pulled them out of each ear and stuffed them into her pockets before turning to the boys, "So, we goin' on the run now?" 

In spite of the fact that she had joined the club all too recently, all of them had quickly grown accustomed to her odd style of speaking and behaviour of a homeless street boy as Daichi nodded and ushered her to follow them to which she obliged. 

 

* * *

 

"Here we are, the infamous Karasuno Heartbreak Hill."

To her, it was a dream place. A carpet of lush green had been sprawled with paragon over the hills which always assisted in calming her down whenever something perilous clouded over her head. 

To the left side of the road that stretched vertically over the hills and beyond laid the population of the city along with their residential houses whilst to the right were the beautiful hills she could not get enough of. The road was too far elongated for her to see where it could end, but she could not help the burning convulsions of her spirit that were itching her to run across to the end of it. 

Rana was the only one among them who still had her black jacket that came with the tracksuit on which made her feel a little hot but not to the point it would result in her dropping to the ground even after a long run. Daichi noticed the jacket and planned things out for her in his head as he began to announce loudly for all to hear.

"All right! Ten dashes uphill to the halfway mark! Two at a time with the exception of Rana who has no partner." That stopped her from staring upfront and turn to Daichi with a confused face, who motioned her to be ahead of everyone. "Since you don't have a partner, you'll be the one making the run first. Don't go too far." She did not seem to have a problem with his decision but was rather pleased with it as a sinister grin twisted the corners of her lips upwards with eyes staring far ahead, brimming with determination to reach there first. 

Everyone saw how scary she looked in that second as a few of them even shuddered. Daichi was the only one rather unfazed by it as he shouted "Ready, set, go!" which sent the girl running up the hill with a speed that resembled a lightning bolt crashing towards the ground. The Captain of the team, worried she might go too far, called out for her to take her pace down a notch or two but all of it fell deaf on her ears. 

Rana felt like a bird in the air whenever she was running. Whenever she ran, the only sound she could hear would be the air flowing by her, trying to hold her down but failing miserably. Green and grey she ran between had begun to fade and become one as her eyes found themselves staring ahead only. The memories from her past, pain, the taunts, everything becomes blurry, numb and inaudible as the only thing she can feel is the air and her wings carrying her to her long-desired freedom. 

Her heart hammered against her chest whilst her breathing had begun to become ragged after a while but she let it not stand as an obstacle between her and her temporary freedom from all the negativity she had been dwelling in the past three years. Nothing can take these small moments away from her, not the screams, not the pain, not her heart, not her physical body, nothing. 

However when she heard the screaming behind her, she could not help but skid to a stop, nearly tripping over air due to her speed and turning around to see who in the red hell was crying like a bear was chasing them. Rana's eyes went wide in shock when she saw Hinata and Kageyama running over despite between one of the pairs that were in the back of the row. 

Seeing them race each other like animals ignited a formerly burnt-out fire in her spirit to race and compete as she jumped on her tip-toes and run ahead of them as wildly but without the unnecessary screaming. 

Hinata and Kageyama, watching her run ahead of them with a speed that was greater than theirs, sent their senses riling in competitiveness as they began to run faster than before. And so the trio ran with speed of cheetahs, unaware of where their feet will take them. 

Until all three of them suddenly came to a halt at the same time to find themselves in a completely different place, dusk fallen over them. They looked around to find themselves amid the place's population once again, surrounded by houses and convenience store that had been closed for the day. 

It was only after Rana realised she was lost with two first-years that she finally came to her senses. "We're lost aren't we?" She was panting much like them, her hands pressed against her knees in an attempt to relax her body and catch some oxygen to fix her breathing rate once again. 

Hinata turned to her for a moment before diverting his attention at Kageyama in anger, "You went the wrong way somewhere, didn't you?!" His words made her heart drop low in dread and it became even worse when the raven-haired boy threw the blame back at him. She knew if she spoke between them, the blame would shift more in her direction as she was the one running before them this entirety of time they raced each other like wild animals from a National Geographic documentary. 

Thankfully for her, they stopped arguing and Hinata came across a street sign attached to a tall pole which read 'Wakone 3-chome'. She tilted her head at the sign and asked aloud, "What place is that?" She had not been to Miyagi for the past three years and in the process of trying to forget some bad memories, the girl lost her sight of every location within this place. 

"Isn't Wakano near Shirtatorizawa?" The last name stilled her for a small moment, but she relaxed when reminding herself that it was merely near that academy. Nothing to fear at all. 

"Shiratorizawa, you mean Ushiwaka's school?" Who Ushiwaka was, she knew not nor did she care though her eyes were still on Kageyama much like the ginger head who accompanied them. 

"Did you need something from me?" 

All three of them froze at the same time before turning their heads robotically towards the deep voice that questioned them. 

Right before them stood the great Ushijima Wakatoshi, the boy who made it into under-eighteen Japan national team, the Super Ace, the Ace who made it into the list of Top Three Aces in Japan. He stood at above six feet accompanied by his perfect muscular yet lean physique that would send women to their knees. His hair was a dark olive-brown colour with matching dark olive eyes. His face muscles were contorted in his usual stoic expression which made him appear intimidating even when he was content. 

However, their time of staring came to a halt when Hinata yelled out, "Japan!" and humiliating all three of them. Rana after seeing him and then witnessing Hinata embarrass the three of them wanted to do nothing more than ask God to cause a huge crack in Earth which would swallow her right there and then. 

Ushijima paid no heed to Hinata's humiliating call and observed all three of them, the third which was a short girl catching his eye out of familiarity as he observed her with a scrutinising gaze, "You look familiar. I have seen you before." 

A drop of sweat appeared on the girl's forehead as she began to wave her hands in the air with a nervous smile while shaking her head furiously to deny that claim. "Hehe, never! You've never seen me! This is the first time you and I are meeting!" Her edgy behaviour made the boys with her a tad suspicious seeing as they had absolutely never seen her apprehensive before. Either she was hiding something or simply intimidated by the appearance of Japan's top ace, they could not tell with accuracy.

"Anyways, if you do not need anything, I'll be leaving." With such abruptness after staring at their ace, Ushiwaka picked his legs to pursue his running. Rana was going to breathe the air of relief for a second there but it seemed her teammates there had other intentions. 

"We came from Karasuno! Would you mind if we did some recon at Shiratorizawa?" 'Oh hell no' Rana thought almost furiously at his words as she reached out a hand to choke the life out of the regular setter behind him but was stopped upon hearing the tall ace's voice.

"Karasuno, the team that uses the weird quick attack?" Pause. He was speaking on Kageyama and Hinata's freaky quick that even Mizumoto witnessed quite several times, and found the hardest to defend her side of the court from. "Do as you like. No matter what your abilities may be, we won't get weaker just because you watched us." Another pause. "I'm going back to school now. If you want to watch, follow me. If you can keep up." 

'No no no no' she thought terrifyingly in her head, not wanting to take a step in that school at all but she was visibly lost and being a witness to that glint in the boys' eyes, Rana knew she had no choice but to follow them dreadfully. 

The three from Karasuno jogged behind Ushiwaka who turned back to take a look at the girl just to see her running timidly behind the other two that were occupied in their chatter to see the sullen spirit of the girl. He knew she was too familiar and with how depressed she looked now, the short girl shared even more resemblance to a face he saw in the past. 

Upon reaching the school, Ushijima jogged inside while the three stopped to marvel it. Unlike the fiery duo, Rana didn't want to step inside out of fear but was compelled to seeing as they had walked inside and started to venture left and right. Following them around, she was hit with bittersweet memories everywhere. She hated it. 

A few minutes later they found themselves in front of the massive gymnasium of Shiratorizawa before which the two continued their idiocy without any regards to who was playing inside and who wasn't. The ace could not concentrate on their words at all; her fear and persistent prayers to God in hopes she would not see anyone did not give her the opportunity to lend an ear to what Kageyama or Hinata were saying at all. She did not even notice them pushing a bottom window open to see what was happening inside the gigantic gym. 

"Took you long enough." Ushijima's voice had awoken her from her train of thoughts that went on forever with no intention of stopping. The tall boy had taken steps to enter the gymnasium but was halted within them by the voice of Kageyama.

"I'm Kageyama from Karasuno High. Would you mind if I had a look?" 

"Kageyama from Kitagawa Daiichi High," Ushiwaka replied not to the question but his thoughts. He received a nod from Kageyama followed by words that went along the lines of how he applied to Shiratorizawa but was not accepted.

"That's not surprising. I remember one of your matches from Junior High. We do not need a setter that cannot serve the ace at this school." Such words of arrogance and bluntness dropped the droopy mood that was long cast over Mizumoto's features as she clenched her fists to her side and took approached steps in direction where Kageyama was standing, a little stiff from what the boy had said. 

Hinata approached them much like her but had something entirely different to say, "But that goes for the Great King too. He is the top setter in the prefecture after all." Who he was talking about, the girl had no idea about for she stayed silent and just listened on, unaware of the Ushiwaka who was looking right at the trio before speaking up on the subject of that certain setter.

"Oikawa..he is an efficient player. He should have come to our school." A gasp came from the Hinata along with a quirk of the brow from Rana who had folded her hands over her chest and did what she had not been doing for the half an hour now: listen. This was the longest the girl had ever stayed silent in their midst. Usually, she spoke a lot about random things or what was affiliated to her, but today she was just mute. 

"Are you saying Oikawa-san would have been able to serve you?" Kageyama questioned, envy evident in his tone. She did not know this Oikawa person, but he did appear well-renowned between them. It was more than likely she will meet him in person someday in the future after becoming a player for Karasuno. From their setter's tone, it appeared he knew this 'Oikawa' clown.

"No matter where he is, Oikawa is a setter that can bring absolute best out of his team. If the team's best is weak, there is nothing more to be done. If it's strong, he'll make it as strong as possible. There was only one time when an entire team was weak and one person was capable of bringing it to the brink of perfection." Rana Mizumoto's entire figure condensed at his last sentence as she found her eyes tightening shut with hands dropping to her sides and turning into tiny fists. Her mind could not further comprehend what either party was saying anymore with her heart rate going crazy in remembrance of the old times. It was as if her mind was on fast-forward, showing her a mere glimpse of each memory, each smile, each laughter, each spike, each toss and that one fall. 

That one fall which destroyed everything she was known for. That one fall; that fatal fall.

She returned to reality once again by the voice of Hinata, the seriousness within it incapable of being mistaken for something else, "If Seijoh is infertile soil, then are we concrete or something?" 

It was evident that Ushijima had called Aoba Johsai weak through metaphorical language and indirectly implied Karasuno was puny before them too. A second later, when it dawned upon her that he had mocked HER TEAM, she was furious. 

"I apologise if I hit a nerve, but words from someone who lost to Aoba Johsai and couldn't even stay in prefectural finals mean nothing to me." Oh, he was done for at that moment. But before any of them could say anything a ball came bouncing up high from the gymnasium which he tried to reach for but was beaten to by Hinata whose high jump had well-surprised him too.

Both boys reached the ground at the same time and the girl could not hold the anger that flared within her anymore. Opening her fists, she approached Ushijima with eyes that appeared about the same intimidating as the boy she just had walked up to. 

She stopped a mere foot away from him as her eyes looked up to stare back at his with fire, almost as if their spirits were battling through their eyes, "I've learned one thing in life throughout the years is that without defeat there is no taste of consistent wins. I may be new to their team and seen them practice for a short while, but after observing and playing alongside them I know one that for sure: deeming us" she paused for a moment, pointing her thumb at herself as well as the other two who were well surprised at her confidence and gravity in her words, "weak would be the single-most biggest mistake of your life. You will watch as we will defeat both Aoba Johsai and then Shiratorizawa. And when you stand at the opposite end of the court, watching us celebrate you will then realise that Karasuno Volleyball Team was most fertile of all soils and your proof will our entrance into the Nationals!" 

Silence fell over the ground between the parties as two particular pair of eyes went wide at the girls' words who was heaving lightly after her long speech, still standing her ground proudly and staring right up at the taller ace. Neither Kageyama nor Hinata ushered a word as they found her words saying enough on the entire team's behalf. The boys had seen her serious during the games but never had they heard such sparkle, loyalty and passion smouldering within her words; and all of it directed towards a team she joined merely days ago. 

If the moment wasn't so serious, Hinata would have gone up and hugged her with tears streaming down his face.

But alas, such moment had no possibility of happening when Ushijima, whose head hung at the end of her sentence, spoke aloud, "So it is you." Her body quickly froze upon hearing his words. 

The other two watched in shock as Ushijima threw his head back and began to laugh loudly, something they certainly never expected from a man as stone-faced as him. Kageyama turned his eyes from the laughing ace to the smaller ace in front of him who was standing frozen, almost as if afraid which was a picture even more surprising than a laughing Ushiwaka. 

"I knew you looked familiar, but I never expected you to return to Miyagi and join Karasuno Boys' volleyball team." His laughter came to a halt after he wiped a drop of tear from his eyes, face returning to the same impassive one that he possessed though a smirk did tug one corner of his lips upwards. "So how is it playing in an all-boys volleyball team, Mizumoto Rana?" 

He knew her. He recognised her. His tone heavily implied an unspoken past that the two shared. Hinata could not help his inquisitive nature as he asked aloud, "H-how do you know Mizumoto-san?"

Ushijima turned his head to Hinata who stood next to Kageyama with the ball in his hand before turning back to the girl whose eyes were now fixated on the ground, "So you never told them about your history?" 

"T-they don't need to know," Her voice sounded so strained in contrast to the assertive one she had spoken in only minutes ago. They could see how much pained she was with Ushijima's words who, upon hearing the tone of her voice, stopped smirking and turned serious once again.

"Really?" He asked, quirking a dark eyebrow at her downcast face. "I think they all deserve to know about the Beast of Shiratorizawa." The title sent a disquieting slap of heart against her rib-cage but instead of showing any visible signs of pain, she shut her eyes close with tightness in an effort to ignore the boy's words. 

"B-beast of Shiratorizawa?" the ginger-head asked, voice laced with confusion but Kageyama knew what the ace was speaking about and his doubts were proven correct. But when he observed how hurt the girl was, he half-wished he had never been right about her true identity.

"Correct." He turned back to Hinata, "The Beast of Shiratorizawa was Rana Mizumoto. She played for the Academy's girls junior high volleyball team. Back in those days, the girl's team was in crumbs due to the lack of efficient players and enthusiasm displayed from them, but after her arrival, all things changed. She became the team's captain in her first year and then led the team in winning against Niiyama Girls Junior High team in Regional. When I mentioned the time where one person was capable of bringing a team to perfection, I was speaking of her." 

Pausing for a moment to take in her condition at that moment, he turned back to both boys who were pleasantly surprised with her achievements, "Her spikes were unstoppable no matter how old or young the blocker would be. She penetrated the strongest of walls with her strength. Maybe if she had not left volleyball, she would be one of the best aces in the whole of Japan." 

All of this was new information to the boys, especially Hinata who was amazed at the girl's glory of past and present. What confused him was why she was so disappointed when he spoke of her. 

"If you had not let tha-" Ushijima was cut off in the middle of his word by the girl who shouted.

"STOP! Don't say one more word," the latter sentence was panted out, "not one more word." Her eyes were dark and solemn in remembrance of what Ushijima intended to mention before them all. It was definitely something very serious to cause her to sound so panicked and frightened yet serious and threatening. Only Ushijima saw how her eyes glowered at him when reminded of the past. 

Without looking at any of them again, she turned on her heel and made a run which caught the boys off guard for a second. The duo quickly turned to the Captain of Shiratorizawa team, thanked him for letting them in and showing them around, promising them a defeat alongside it before they made a run to chase down the girl. Ushijima stared at their disappearing figures, deep in his thoughts to process what had just happened mere seconds ago. 

If the former Beast of Shiratorizawa was with Karasuno alongside the talented freak duo, then maybe Shiratorizawa should take the team a little seriously. 

 

* * *

 

 

"Mizumoto-san" pant "please" pant "don't run like that again." Hinata heaved loudly alongside Kageyama who was gripping onto the head of the bench while attempting to catch his breath like the boy next to him. The girl was sitting on one of the benches set in a row with her folded legs pressed tightly to her chest, head resting glumly on top of her knees and eyes staring down between them. The lower half of her face was hidden from them so they could not figure out how she was feeling at all, but from how she ignored Hinata's words it was apparent she was not feeling good.

The two boys shared a look as if conversing through a mind-link once again before nodding at each other and slowly sitting on either side of her. They looked up to the sky to find the sun setting somewhere, spread tropical yellow and orange hues over the sky. 

"Mizumoto-san," Hinata began, turning to look at the girl who was still glancing down, deep somewhere in her own of course of thoughts. Neither one of them knew why she was acting as such but they felt she deserved all privacy and respect for her profound loyalty towards the team and defending them against Ushijima. 

Shouyou opened his mouth to speak but stopped his vocals cords from ushering anything when she pulled her face out of her legs and delivered words of clarification and much significance, "I was an ace to Shiratorizawa Junior High Girls Volleyball. My grades weren't the best of the best, but they still let me enter thanks to my surname and upon recognising my talent in volleyball, they let me play for the team and become their captain in first-year. My first game was a loss against Niiyama Girls Junior High team which felt humiliating, so after that...I made sure we never lose a single game to anyone." She paused for a second, taking a deep breath before continuing where she had left off, "We won matches left and right, winning the Prefectural's trophy twice under my consistent captaincy but things happened and I...gave up on volleyball after that." Her emotions were overwhelming her, but she dared let it not show on the outside like how she trained herself to do as a former captain. "I didn't play after that, joined another sport and well, joining the Karasuno Volleyball team was just..very nostalgic to me so my reluctance towards it comes from that.

"But now-" she looked at the two boys who sat to her left and right with a determined smile, something that they totally did not expect out of her when she was so distressed minutes ago, "-I want to play for you guys and will go with you to the Nationals. I'm not leaving this team without an entrance in the nationals. I won't let Toshi enjoy a victory from me, not anymore." Those words were enough to bring a huge smile on Hinata's face as he jumped over to her, hugging her side tightly like a little child hugging his mother after she gave him the money to buy a new video game. 

Kageyama was the one who chose to stay silent, reminiscing on the details of her as an ace. She missed out one thing when speaking of her former glory. The Beast of Shiratorizawa was not only known for her speed and agility as a spiker; she was also known for her capability as an ace that could spike any ball regardless of how fast or slow the setter tosses the ball to her. When he was a Junior high student and known as the 'King' he only wondered how it would be to have someone spike his balls without any complaints about the speed of it and adjust without him having to fuss over someone capable of keeping up with his toss's pace or not. One of the genuine reasons he applied to Shiratorizawa in the first place was so that the great Beast could spike at least one of his tossed balls.

He never imagined being on the same team as the Beast due to their genders, but fate had its way. They were both playing together, fighting together; all together for one cause: to get to the Nationals. He had another person who he could toss the ball to without paying heed to whether the ball should be fast or slow. 

"Thank you, Mizumoto-senpai! You cannot imagine how glad we are to have you on the team with us-"

"Rana." 

"Eh?" Both boys looked at her with Hinata pulling back out of surprise. 

"You both are calling me Rana from now on. No excuses." She gave them both a gentle smile followed by a tilt of head which made her look beautiful under the warm tones of the sunset, her heterochromatic eyes glimmering in happiness. 

Seeing her like that covered their cheeks with a pink as both boys turned away out of embarrassment which caused confusion to swarm over her other emotions, trying to take a look at both boys' faces which they were trying so hard to hide from her. 

Their moment was interrupted when they heard the voices of Tanaka, Daichi and Sugawara calling them from over the other side of the street. Seeing the angry face of their Captain, all three jumped up from their places on the bench and began to run over to their group in fright they might end up getting more than just scolding. 

However, all three were glad about one thing: matters were cleared between them and they did not have much to hide anymore, especially her. Kageyama, in particular, was happier than Hinata as he turned to look at her smiling face, feeling a warm emotion spread in his stomach.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is not properly edited, so I apologise about the lack of detailing in it! I intend to edit it within the next 48 hours. Thank you!

In spite of dusk settling over the skies, all of them had returned to the gymnasium safely after hearing about Takeda-sensei wanting to speak to them. They all presumed it had something to do with the training camp in Tokyo only after yesterday, but boy they had never been this wrong in their entire lives. 

"As you all are aware, you have final exams starting next month."

The cheery vibes Rana had from her unproblematic conversation with others on the way about her past suddenly died as she found herself freezing up for the umpteenth time today. Her heart had stopped breathing and life felt as if it were escaping her without her bothering to hold on to it. The situation with Nishinoya, Tanaka, Kageyama and Hinata was no different. 

The rest of the students had distanced themselves from this particular group of five that had turned into stone by the end of Takeda-sensei's sentence.

"You know all know that, right?" They all turned their faces to the right simultaneously, avoiding the teacher's face with the minute amount of life-force left in them. Takeda knew all five were well-aware, so he continued, "So I think you know what I'm getting at, but if you fail any subject supplementary exams will be held that weekend. Which means you won't be going to any away games in Tokyo." 

The entirety of her body froze in its place while Nishinoya and Tanaka made a run for their lives to who-knows-where only to have Daichi send Ennohista to catch them. Kageyama, who she was sitting next to, had completely stopped breathing at that point which sent Yamaguchi into worry and Hinata was frantically questioning what a failing grade was for exams at all. 

"Uh guys, Mizumoto-san has completely frozen up," When everyone turned their attention to her, they saw a frozen body in a huge block of ice that had appeared out of blue, her face still and eyes unblinking like an unresponsive body. 

Takeda-sensei fixed his classes before coughing out, "I'm not surprised. After all, it's not the first time she is studying in the second year." 

"NANII?!" Everyone in the place shouted at the same time with the exception of Kageyama who was still not breathing despite being shaken back and forth by a panic-stricken Yamaguchi who was also staring in shock at the girl. The ice around her began to melt slowly along with her as she turned into an animated puddle with her face down out of the embarrassment of repeating the second year. 

"S-so you mean, Mizumoto-san could have been with us b-but.." Sugawara pointed at himself, Daichi and Asahi out of surprise, incapable of completing his sentence at all whilst staring at Takaeda who confirmed it with a tight nod.

"She failed all of her subjects with the exception of English and Physical Education. After calling her former school about it for proper confirmation, her physics and maths teachers even told me she turned the first pages of her paper before yelling profanities and running out of the exam hall. And she did not do it in one exam, but two separately." He raised two fingers in the air for everyone to see, and to emphasise on the gravity of her actions.

None of them expected that out of the girl who looked almost intelligent when she was serious. After learning of her history with Shiratorizawa, they all assumed her to be the brains and actions of the team, but it was more than apparent they were all dead wrong about her and reminded themselves to never judge by a book by looking at its cover. 

Hinata heard her speak about her not-so-great grades, but he did not expect her to be so bad she repeated an entire grade over again. 

Rana found herself becoming a solidified human when her mind began to click and she had a huge light bulb blinking on top of her head. She was ready to fix her grades for the sake of Tokyo. 

"Got it!" She smacked her right fist into her left hand's palm, letting those words out in a low voice while Hinata was speaking to their teacher and coach. The other boys whose hearing range she was in tilted their heads to one side in confusion before repeating her words in a questioning style.

Turning towards them with a large smile she began, "All the girls over here love me, so I'll make them teach me how to study by taking each one on a date by the end of the day."

"HELL NOOO!" Pushing themselves out of Ennoshita's grasp, Nishinoya and Tanaka's spirits were reignited with the same fire they had gathered to teach the girl a lesson on not to take their girls in the school. Before the two could argue with her further, Daichi appeared behind them with a mark of anger appearing on the side of his head as he smacked all the two on their heads, telling them to shut up before they get something worse than that. 

Sugawara smiled politely towards the girl with a drop of sweat appearing on his forehead before walking over to her. "I don't think you should use your fans for such a thing. I'll help you out if you want because second year's textbooks are easier for me now." 

 She felt drops of tears appear at the corners of her eyes as she reached out and grabbed Sugawara's hands in hers with her lips quivering comically, "Sugawara-san, y-you're too kind to a soul as sinful as mine. I LOVE YOU!" Throwing her arms up, she wrapped her arms around his legs while sobbing hysterically. The grey-haired boy's eyes widened out of astonishment, his face turning a dark red colour seeing as some of their friends who heard the last sentence were staring at him and the girl who was hugging his legs tightly out of emotions swarming clouding a rational part of her thinking. 

It was a good thing some of them were busy with other's hysterics to hear what she said. He bent down and patted her head awkwardly, one hand covering the lower half of his face in the hope nobody sees the crimson colour dusted over his pale cheeks. 

Once separating from him, she jumped to her legs and gave him a huge childish smile before turning to see how her other comrades in failure were faring. Hinata was on his knees in defeat before Coach Ukai whose face resembled a strict and intimidating samurai warrior from those drama action films she watched with her mother as a child. 

Sugawara approached the boy with a small smile after barely recovering from what the second-year had said so loudly aimed solely at him, reaching a hand to place gently on the first-year's shoulder. "Hinata, I'm sure you don't have to worry much about it." 

"But I never had a double-digit score on any quiz." Those words had Sugawara jolting backwards, Hinata repeating the same action whilst Nishinoya and Tanaka were making buddhavista faces behind him. Both got a good scolding from the third-year.

The boy who was downcast at that moment felt a hand on his other shoulder which caused him to turn around and meet eyes with the new ace of their team who had a blue sky which comprised of bald eagles animatedly soaring behind her. Her other hand was placed right where her heart was supposed to be as she spoke heroically, "I share my sentiments with you, my fellow soldier. I, too, never had a double-digit score in any quiz last year."

Tears appeared in their eyes as she knelt to his height before grabbing both of his hands in hers and crying together with him, mourning over a gravestone which newly appeared before them, saying 'Good grades' in memory of what they never had. 

The gymnasium turned upside down when screams came out of the mouths of Tanaka and Nishinoya which resulted in the first and second-year who were holding onto each other for emotional support to start screaming out of fear too. Takeda-sensei repeating words of comfort to himself which went along the lines of 'they can do it if they try' did not help the commotion either. 

It was only Daichi whose shouting shut the four of them up as they all turned to look at their leader, their guide, their light in this darkness, "GET A HOLD OF YOURSELVES! We still have time until exams start. There's no way Karasuno could bring our best without these five idiots!" It was nice to know she was called an idiot by her captain; made her feel less isolated in a team of all boys.

She stood up straight like the other four, standing next to Tanaka in the trio of second-years while Hinata had turned-white Kageyama grabbed through his shirt, shaking him to conscious but coming without any avail. 

Daichi's face had turned almost sinister as he began to scheme different --possibly illegal-- ways, "We are going to do this.. we are all going to Tokyo." He planned to smuggle the five of them to Tokyo. 

Not that Rana minded. She always wanted to see the world from the point of view of a drug cartel and with Karasuno volleyball team, she just might. 

- 

"Uh, guys am I allowed in boys locker room haha I am a female after all haha-"

"Rana, urusai."

"H-hai, Captain."

Rana wasn't having her night with the boys end on a good note as she found herself getting dragged from the gym to the boys' locker-room where she was forced to sit next to Nishinoya, Tanaka, Hinata and Kageyama like someone who had committed a federal offence. With her legs folded underneath her and head hanging down much similar to her other comrades, she was getting lectured by her captain who towered over all five by standing a mere half feet away from them, his gaze stern. 

"Listen up, you guys. The one thing you're going to promise me right now is that you will not fall asleep in class."

Checked. No problemo.

"Stay up late through sheer willpower."

Checked. Easy for her because she's a deep sleeper.

"Screw up in your classes and the club." 

The first one contorted her figure because that was impossible as she cringed, looking up at her Captain with an intention to give him puppy eyes only to have his glare asking her to be his guest. It was at that moment she realised puppy eyes will not work on a man as strict as him.

"It's all absolutely unreasonable!"

She groaned loudly before throwing her head down on the ground with a loud thud, a low "Hai" escaping her mouth out of relief that lecture was over for good and that she could leave. 

"Mizumoto-san" she felt someone shake her shoulder but decided not to reply to it, preferring to rest in this agony she was slowly drowning in. Somebody shook her shoulder again with no avail from the girl whose head was still slammed against the ground. After a third but forceful shake which only made her furious, she shot her head up with a screeching "WHAT" only to crash the top of her head with someone's chin as both people jumped away from the other, one rubbing their head furiously and the other their chin. 

Opening her head despite the pain, she looked up to find Asahi being behind the persistent shaking as she suddenly backed up with wide eyes before going on all fours and bowing furiously, "GOMENASAI, ASAHI-SENPAI!" She had no idea he was so close! If she had, God she would have absolutely never done something so impulsive and idiotic. 

The boy chuckled, rubbing the back of his head embarrassingly before replying, "It's okay, Mizumoto-san. It is me who should be apologising instead! So-" he did a little bow with his hands pressed to the ground below, "-I'm sorry, Mizumoto-san."

She smiled at him widely before shaking her head, "Ne, Asahi-senpai. I'm a little..over-energetic so I end up doing things I regret later." Her own words made her smile grow a little sad as something crossed her mind for a short second. Asahi caught that but said nothing out of fear it might be something very personal for her to speak about. 

"Uh Mizumoto-san, I wanted to tell you-"

She cut him off in the middle of his sentence with a, "Call me Rana, please. No honorary titles or surname because it makes me feel left out of the team."

He smiled before nodding and continuing where he was cut off, "Mizum- Rana, we're closing this place up soon so you should pack up your things and also leave. It's late and your family might be worried."

Pulling out the new black touch-phone from her side pocket, she turned it from the side to check the time which resulted in a loud screech emanating from her, sending Asahi back along with others who heard it out of fright. 

"TEN. IT'S TEN. MY MOTHER WILL GO TO JAIL IN A HOMICIDAL CASE TOMORROW!," Swinging her bags harshly over her shoulders and putting the joggers on hastily without bothering to tie the laces, Rana pushed everyone aside before jumping down the flight of stairs that led to the locker-room. All of the boys quickly recovered from her episode and ran outside of the room only to see her run like a chased animal into the night. 

It was more than obvious the girl had loose screws up there. 


	8. Chapter 8

Standing in front of the mirror, she placed a hand against it before whispering almost seductively, "God, if I could make love to myself right now I really would." Her dark eyes deeply looked back at her as a boyish smirk glazed over her lips knowingly today was her day and that no man could stand between her and all the girls in school.

"Rana idiot, stop making out with your reflection and get to school." 

"Shut up, you little turnip-looking bastard!"

"Rana, stop cursing out your siblings before your butt is met with my slipper."

"S-sorry, mum."

 

You all must be wondering what reason must there be behind the girl acting so confident on this particular day and going as far as falling in love with her reflection. Well, all will be unveiled soon. 

 

It was a new week for the Karasuno Volleyball Team whose members stood together in the hallway of the second floor with sullen-looking Nishinoya, Tanaka, Hinata, and Kageyama who wanted to be anywhere but right there. Before them stood Tsukishima, Kinoshita, Ennoshita, and Narita who were discussing their study-plans for the group of four to help them pass all of their exams with Daichi and Sugawara. Both of them were listening intently and providing aid in bringing small altercations that would suit their club and school times well. 

Asahi, who was not paying attention to what his teammates were speaking about due to his lack of interest in education despite managing passing grades, heard the bustling of girls taking place near the far-end of their hallway's staircase which confused him a little. They appeared to be squealing out of excitement which was a tad uncommon on their behalf. 

He, then, noticed a girl running over in their direction before grabbing a girl that stood nearby their group whilst reading a book, uninterested in all of them. She shook her which nearly made the book in her grasp drop, resulting in glare from her. From what he could understand, the eccentric girl paid little to no heed at the glare being sent in her way as she began to speak aloud with excitement laced in her voice, "Mamiya! Mamiya! There's a new guy who transferred to our school and he's very hot."

Those words earned a raised eyebrow from the occupied girl before a roll of her eyes, "Oh really? I've told you many times that I'm not interested in boys or anyone other than Mizumoto-san." Asahi's eyes widened in slight embarrassment when he realized he was eavesdropping on a girl who was a fan of Rana! He decided not to listen anymore and turned his attention to his friends who were still busy discussing their study-plans with exception of Hinata and Kageyama, the duo at each other's throats for no reason once again.

Minutes passed when the same ecstatic looked around and began to squeal while shaking her friend, whose name was Mamiya, back and forth, "He's coming this way! Oh God, Mamiya!" 

Asahi, unable to help his curiosity, turned and stared far end of the hallway where he could see a figure approaching silently. Initially, he could not see who it exactly was for he was walking in the shadows, but once the light from the morning sun fell over him, the ace's jaw fell to the ground with both eyes going comically wide. 

It was a boy who stood at a height slightly shorter than Hinata wearing a tightly-fitted white shirt of their uniform, the upper three buttons popped open to give everyone a peer of the black simple choker he was wearing along with the pronounced collarbones. Above the shirt, he had their traditional black coat open, whose buttons were all popped open, giving a view of their slim and lean figure. His black trousers were just as tight-fitted as the shirt which showed off his slim legs that went along with their lean upper body. 

Coming to their face- oh boy. He was fair with a slight tan from being possibly athletic, his face was shaped ovally almost like a girl's with long eye-lashed and full lips which were pulled in a stereotypical 'bad boy' smirk. His eyes were a chocolate brown colour and hair, an unnatural white which was voluminous but short and slicked back, a few strands falling over his face which made him look even more attractive than the rest of his appearance. He had small undecorative black earrings on that just added onto his 'bad boy' appearance. 

He appeared too familiar for Asahi's liking as he watched along with the rest of his teammates who were looking in surprise at the male who simply paid no heed to them and walked over to two girls who were looking in awe at him though the glint in their eyes differed from one another.

"Hello, ladies. How are we doing today?" That voice...Asahi and a few others who were on the volleyball team would recognize that voice anywhere no matter how deep or squeaky it would get. 

This was no boy. It was Rana!

"W-we're good and you?" The shy tone of the madwoman's surprised Mamiya and Asahi who were caught off guard with the sudden coolness of the girl who was screaming on top of her lungs about the 'boy' before them.

'He' smirked and laughed a burst of throaty laughter before replying, "Ah, amazing as always. Anyways, I'll be seeing you two around the school, yeah?" That resulted in a furious nod from the unnamed friend who grabbed Mamiya from her hand and dragged the girl away with her whilst waving 'bye' to the 'boy' who gave a loop-sided grin before running a hand through 'his' hair. 

In the meantime, the boys of the volleyball team were staring at the person with eyes visibly wide; all the boys were undergoing the same level of shock with the exception of Daichi who was confused at all of them staring at the boy ahead of them, "Why are you all staring at the man like that?"

All of them turning their heads at him like robots, eyes half-lidded and faces straight, "So you don't recognize that person over there?" 

Squinting his eyes a little with a hand pressed against his chin, a finger slightly scratching as if he were attempting to recognize a criminal before things clicked for him. "Wait, that person resembles Mizumoto. Could it be her brother?"

Tsukishima pressed a hand to his face, shaking his head while Sugawara told Daichi with the straightest face he could muster at that moment, "Daich, that IS Mizumoto-san."

"NANDAY?!"

At that moment, the person had skipped over to them and waved a happy hand, "Yo there, boys!" Almost all of them jumped back hearing that feminine voice come out of the person dressed as a man. Though her entire appearance had been altered by various incentives, her personality was the same as ever: the wild, street child who plays music for underground clubs. 

They were all at awe with her appearance so she couldn't help but give a wide grin before twirling and grabbing the collar of her coat and straightening up out of the sheer show-off, "So, how do I look? Pretty badass, right?" 

They could only muster a slight nod, too awestruck to respond well, while Sugawara sighed tiredly before turning to her to meet eyes with her, "I thought you would not use your fans for such a thing?"

"But they're not my fans as I'm carefully picking girls out, so this is a win-win situation for me! And besides," she dropped her cheery personality to an embarrassed one as she began to blush wildly, "after I went through my grades, I don't think I'll be passing with your help alone." 

They could only sigh in disappointment, knowing well that Sugawara's help was not enough to help someone who was repeating second-year again. 

 

* * *

 

Oikawa and Iwaizumi were walking from school together, bored out of their minds and confused as to what to do since they had no practice or as such to do at all. The setter gave out a loud sigh, throwing hands behind his head whilst the other boy just walked beside him hands dug into the depths of his pockets, looking around the place in hopes to catch something mildly intriguing. 

Mondays were always tedious for the duo because there would be no practice resulting in being clueless about spending the rest of their day. Sometimes Oikawa would bring Takeru, his nephew, along to play or do other various things, giving volleyball classes to children of his nephew's age, the other times both boys wandered aimlessly around, checking out things in the shops or just trying to pick on each other to kill time.

Today, however, they didn't even feel like pestering the other as they walked in the commotion-filled streets of Sendai with the cloudy ocean-coloured sky looking down upon them all. People were busy with their lives, moving here and there into shops, cafes and other restaurants while neither of the two had any idea what to do at all.

Oikawa began to look around the place with a pout on his face as crowds began to grow less with each passing second, allowing him to observe things better without anyone blocking his vision over and over again.

His eyes went on a minimalistic Western-styled cafe that looked rather appealing to him as he smiled for a small second before his face turned confused followed by envy and fury crossing it almost dramatically.

"IWA-CHAN!" He shouted, bringing the other boy's attention to him who scowled irritatingly in his direction.

"What, Trashykawa?"

Oikawa pointed accusingly right at the cafe, they were walking next to, inside of which a boy was seated between two girls opposite to a set of two other girls. They were seated next to the window they had been strolling beside, before the group's line of vision which could result in any of them seeing, but Oikawa being Oikawa did not care even an ounce about something like that. 

What the duo could discern from the glass that separated them, the group were sitting together rather closely for it to be just a friendly meet-up. Two girls sat rather intimately close to the mysterious boy who had his arms spread over the back of the sofa-like elongated spot all of them were seated on with each female on either one of his side leaning behind, almost in an attempt to be close to his touch. The pair of girls sitting opposite to him were staring at him flirtatiously whilst slurping on their smoothies that they had ordered.

"He has four girls wrapped around his finger, how dare he-" Oikawa seethed dramatically, glaring daggers at the ambiguous boy who turned his head towards the girl sitting to his right, almost spotting the two Seijoh players had Iwa not grabbed the angry setter and ducked behind a bush.

From what Oikawa could manage to view from the spaces between the bush's leaves, the boy had dyed white hair slicked back with some strands falling over his face, eyes were a chocolate brown much similar to his arched well-plucked eyebrows and a perfectly carved oval-shaped face that complimented his symmetrical features all too well. He was small in physique but boy, was he beautiful-

Wait a minute, did he just find a boy handsome? Was he...feeling a tiny amount of attraction towards a boy?

A dramatic gasp escaped his mouth when he saw anonymous person grab the girl from her chin and brought her face close to his for a minute, whispering sweet nothings to her with a smirk before turning back to another girl that had a book placed before her, wording things inaudibly to him with a small crimson shade dusted over her face.

"Oi, Shittykawa. Can we leave already?" Iwaizumi asked, already tired of this entire ordeal. He did not know what they were doing behind the bush when they could be walking around without acting like secret government agents.

Oikawa turned to his friend before shaking his head, "Na Na, Iwa-chan! You gave me the best idea to spy on him. We need to know how he got so many girls and how none of us knows about him!" It was all a lie. He just wanted to see more of the boy because he found him..appealing in his eyes.

"But isn't that illegal-" His words fell deaf on the other boy's ears who had turned back to 'spy' on a random boy. A sigh comes out of his lips before sitting among the bushes to comply with his friend's words.

They sat there for a good twenty minutes watching the boy with intent who was drinking coffee and..studying something with the girls while flirting with them simultaneously. Had multi-tasking been an Olympic game, this person would have won gold for Japan because he was easily switching from flirting to studying to drinking. It was making the setter rather envious.

The girls all slowly got up after a while, picking their books up and leaving with red blush dusted over their cheeks while the boy sat there, waving them lethargic but seducing goodbyes which sent them to the moon out of mere happiness. Once all of them had left as Oikawa noted, the flirty demeanour of the boy had dropped entirely. He stood up and stretched his arms out with a yawn before doing what sent his and Iwaizumi, who was uninterested in the situation until now, jaws falling straight to the ground.

He had reached over to his hair and pulled it off, exposing..more hair underneath that were held in a black net. He seized the net in his grab and pulled that off too..fluttering long and beautiful straight-wavy dark brown hair that she swayed back and forth to free before running his hand through them to feel them better. The boy sat back down and slammed his head loudly against a textbook, making Iwaizumi wince from the second-hand pain.

The wing-spiker turned to Oikawa in hopes to share shock with him, but boy ho had they been in an anime, his eyes would have been two beating hearts at the moment. His face was not red but his lips were curved up in the most lovesick smile ever and that, Iwaizumi felt completely odd being a witness of.

"Oi, Dummykawa." No response came from the boy who stared at the dozing face of the...girl. It was a girl. Their feminine but beautiful features. Their smiles. The hair and a slightly prominent chest, which they noticed after they got up, underneath the white shirt they wore, it could not be a male.

"Shittykawa."

No response.

"Dumbass."

No response once again.

"Bakawa."

"Iwa-chan...I have something to confess." Iwaizumi could only quirk an eyebrow at his idiotic friend who turned to him with the most serious face he could have mustered. If the situation wasn't so outlandish, the boy would have been worried there for a second.

"I think..." he began, his face downcast, "after seeing that boy, I think I may be homosexual."

' _Boy_.'

The place fell quiet with only crows cawing a 'nitwit' over and over, the other boy's face becoming more dead-panned than ever.

"Oikawa, that isn't a boy. It's a girl."

"It is? Oh, it's a relief to know I'm still straight."

....

"I can't believe you're dragging me into this. I can't believe I'm letting myself get dragged into this."

"Iwa-chan, we need to know about her! How can she get so many girls while crossing-dressing!"

"No, YOU need to know that, NOT ME. Don't put my name into it."

Why were the two arguing so avidly? To answer your question both were following the girl secretly in hopes to obtain more information about her. They were trailing in the shadows behind her like a duo of FBI agents on a covert mission to track a significant serial killer.

It had been a while she left the cafe and was on her way to somewhere and the boys, more like Oikawa, was following to learn more about her. In his head, she was on her way to meet a secret ugly old boss that is the mastermind behind her luring innocent girls in to use-- or perhaps for human trafficking purposes!

As they got a bit closer to the girl who was walking with her backpack slung lazily over her shoulder with hands digging deep into her pockets, they realised her uniform resembled a certain team they defeated during the Autumn tournament; a certain team that went by the name Karasuno. The boys turned to each other in realisation, eyes wide in surprise. They were following a Karasuno student all this time! 

Unbeknownst to them the brunette had sensed their presence already and decided their pause was the perfect moment for her to turn around, grab one stranger from the hem of their shirt and press her foot on the other's chest, sending both to the ground at the same time with shrieks emanating from the duo.

Swinging her legs on either side, she trapped one between her legs whilst she had her fist pressed forcefully against the other's chest to prevent them from leaving and attacking her, the girl quirked an intimidating eyebrow at them before lowering her head to meet eyes with them.

"Who the hell are you two and why are you two following me?" she seethed out, making Iwaizumi gulp in fear. She was scarier than most men he's come across in his life and God, was she powerful. Her hand pressing powerfully against his chest was hurting him a lot but he could not muster a wince when her gaze was so petrifying. However, Oikawa did not share his sentiments.

Letting out a chuckle, he raised his hands in the universal 'surrender' move before giving her a reply, "Eh, cutie-chan. We mean no harm to you. We merely got curious after seeing you at the cafe, cross-dressing and pretending to be a boy. I wonder why you're luring girls like that." At the last sentence, Oikawa's voice turned as intimidating and low as her's, making Iwaizumi realise whatever will be going down between the two won't end all too well.

Well, that's what he thought.

Leaning back abruptly, she dropped her hands and chortled nervously at his words, "Oh you saw that?" She smiles at both boys rather boyishly, sticking her tongue out of embarrassment before explaining things, "Don't take it wrongly. I'm kind of doing bad in studies, so I've been taking those girls out on dates so they can help me study and score well."

Iwaizumi was a little taken aback by the change in her behaviour but before he could even respond to her, Oikawa had already beat him to it, "Oh, you're bad at studies and get help from girls? Me too, cutie-chan! Studies are hard, so I feel you over there."

"I know right, oh my God. I hate them! I don't see why they're so significant when you're good at other things in life!"

"I know! Math is so pointless especially algebra in it, like where would be using the quadratic formula in life?"

"Oh God, I know right?! Like z, I'm not interested in finding your x because I certainly don't know why."

"Haha! I know right?"  
  


Iwaizumi cringed in awe as looked back and forth between the duo who were conversing like they weren't going to engage in a Mafia-style gunfight just seconds ago. Oikawa had hit it off with the girl who was still sitting on top of him from the attempt of tackling him and threatening him. Neither of the two even acted like they remembered what just happened. It was all too shocking for the boy who had propped himself on his elbows much like his setter friend and looked between the laughing and talking duo.

It was fun and games for Oikawa and the girl until Iwaizumi saw the shadow of a tall figure looming above the three. The other two were too busy talking like the popular girls, throwing 'I know right' and 'Me' at each other, vexing him, to notice the presence of a particular person above the. He slowly turned his head around almost mechanically before nearly screaming his throat out when he saw who it was.

"Ma ma, Rana sweetie. I'm so proud of you," the girl's entire body froze when she heard that strongly feminine voice speak, its familiarity sending shivers down her whole body that even Oikawa felt from being underneath her. She turned her head slowly to meet eyes with Satan's mistress herself who looked down on her with eyes having an animated flame dancing in them. Dressed in a black pencil skirt with a red blouse and black coat, the older woman had her hands crossed over her chest whilst black aura radiated from her handsome figure.

"M-m-mot-th-th-er..."

The woman was so beautiful with her fair and clear skin, wavy-straight blonde hair and green eyes but God, did she look frightening with the menacing smile and furious eyes, "As if you couldn't quench your thirst of disappointing me after shaving your sister's head with your father, you're assaulting boys nearby our house too now?"

'Rana' or as the woman called the girl began to wave her hands in the air frantically with wide eyes in an attempt to explain things to her mother, but all fell deaf on her eyes as the woman reached over and yanked the girl off a startled Oikawa through her collar, sending her straight on her butt. She started to flay around in protest but was dragged by the woman towards the house after smacking her right on the head.

The boys who were still laying on the ground looked at the duo with wide eyes, too awestruck to say anything at all to either. Iwaizumi was unsure whether to save the girl from the devilish woman's clutches or just let her be, but it seemed this experience had not come to a halt when she turned around.

The woman smiled at the boys kindly and pleasantly, as if she was not dragging her screaming daughter through her collar on the concrete floor. "To make up for what this animal did to you, please allow me to invite you over for dinner! I intend to cook food part of our cuisine today which you might enjoy."

Both boys stood on their feet with Iwaizumi intending to deny her with hopes to never see either one of them again, however, Oikawa beat him in words once again, giving the woman his iconic boyishly handsome smiles, "Why not, madam! I'd love to try food made by your beautiful hands anyways."

She blushed at his charming comment before answering, "Oh, you're such a sweet boy! Call me Miss Mizumoto or simply Auntie would suffice!"

"Oi I'm still on the ground if you cougar self would notic -"  _ **SMACK**_!

"Respect your mother or get the beating, you insolent little monkey."

"H-hai, Ma'am."

She smiled at the boys once again, ushering them to follow her as she led them towards their home while dragging her irritated daughter behind. Iwaizumi was half afraid to death of all this, wondering if this will unfold into the real-life case of Texas Chainsaw Massacre with how she mentioned her 'cuisine'. Their house was far at the end of the street from his hypothesis, whereon all the stretch was comprising of pure green fields and a nice ice-skating rink that functioned all year long from what he had heard. He turned to his friend for the first time in hopes he would be feeling the same dread as him, but no; once again Oikawa did not share his sentiments. He was walking tall and proud with his charming smile plastered over his face, annoying the other boy to the core.

Miss Mizumoto stopped before a house two homes down where the supposed assault was taking place, dragging her daughter behind herself who had accepted her fate and had her folded over her chest relaxingly in a chibi version with both boys following. The house looked very fancy and large for a residence within the Miyagi prefecture, its architecture resembling American private ground houses. She took a key out of her pencil skirt's pocket and inserted it into the keyhole, turning it around and opening it to usher the boys inside.

Iwaizumi walked inside with a grinning Oikawa, closing the door behind themselves and taking their shoes off where they had splayed a wondrous teal Persian, elongated towards the inside of the home.

Walking towards the main building of the house, both boys began taking a look around and realised it was rather fancier than they had initially presumed. The living room to the left was massive with a gigantic eighty-inch plasma tv put against the wall surrounded by a leather sofa case and table in the middle of all. The surrounding of the wall was decorated by small cinderblocks that had plants and antique vases placed on them. To the right was a western-style open kitchen which looked magnificent painted grey from the island to the seats of the bar-stools placed all around it. 

In between both was a massive staircase which was a dark wood shade leading upstairs. It had photos that they presumed to be of the rest of the family pinned over the walls that ascended upwards.

This girl they had been spying on was rich for certain.

The older woman dropped her grip on her daughter and strut away towards the kitchen, opening drawers to pull out pans and other necessities for tonight's dinner. Seeing her mother's back turned towards her, Rana slowly got off the ground and made an attempt to run upstairs only for her mother to throw a spatula right at her head, only missing by a notch. She stilled in fear, eyes wide when realisation dawned upon her that she could have been killed by that woman right there and then had she been a little more accurate.

"You little brat," her mother spoke to her in a faux motherly voice, causing her to straighten up like a soldier with her hand posed for a salute. "You're taking both of the boys upstairs to apologise and be a proper guest to. If you try to act like the whole circus you are, I'm poisoning you for good."

"YES, MADAM. YES." the girl shouted on top of her lungs, turning to the boys with a fearful but understandable smile motioning them to follow her.

Iwaizumi had the intention to follow and escape the grip of the she-devil but the poisoning threat had been drilled into his head so powerfully, he almost feared for his own life...that she might poison him and Oikawa. They seemed like a normal family with dark secrets. He is not ready to die young, nope, nada.

"Madam Mizumoto, why don't you let me help you?" The boy walked over to the woman with a fake smile that seemed decently authentic. She tried to refrain him from helping her when he was a guest, but Iwaizumi insisted and joined her in the kitchen.

She ushered her daughter to take the boy upstairs to treat to which she nodded in a soldier-like manner before ushering the smiling boy to follow her.

-

"Oh God, I finally escaped her clutches," Rana breathes out in sheer relief, sliding down against the bedroom door after shutting it close behind her and the stranger in her room. Holding her head in her hands, she closes her eyes for a moment to grasp the situation at hand.

Oikawa, on the other hand, casually walked over and landed over the bed with a loud plop! as began to look around the room with the same grin plastered over his face. He found her room to be rather interesting; it was a decent-sized room painted grey with portraits of various green places, either forests, lakes or green mountains. They all looked very calming to Oikawa who found his smile turning warm at their sight. There was a small grey study table with small drawers nearby the same door she was sitting next to that had a pile of massive textbooks laying like a mountain; a laptop was sitting right next to them. The top shelf behind the stack of papers and books had three plants lined that looked about authentic, all of them being miniature bonsai trees.

The girl rose from her position before raising her hand at the distracted boy "Hey, man. I'm gonna change quickly from this animosity into something more comfortable if that's okay."

He gave her a smile with a universal 'ok' sign he formed with his fingers, "No problem with me, cutie-chan." Returning his facial expression, she walked over to the bathroom within her room, disappearing from his line of sight.

All by his lonesome in the room now, he continued his survey as turning to his right he found a huge fifty-inch plasma tv surrounded by small shelves that contained various photos. Curiosity getting the best of him, he jumped off the bed and walked over to it and surveyed all the photos. The first few were of her and her siblings, one of which caught him off-guard.

'So that's why Mizumoto name seemed so familiar...' he thought to himself as he looked at her older brother who had both of her supposed twin brother and sister sitting on top of his broad shoulders whilst she clung onto his torso with a huge grin, making a peace sign at the camera. They were at a beautiful lakehouse which was in the background. The next few photos showed her father whose identity surprised him too, realising this family was quite interesting on its own. As he moved on from the lake house photos, he realised some photos were kept on one cinderblock as if they were stuffed over there due to lack of space.

Those photos were of the girl when she was a tad younger; a Junior-high student if he had to be as precise as possible. She was standing next to a building whose name made him rather uncomfortable. Her hair was longer than it is now, pulled into a tall ponytail with her dark eyes glimmering much like her entire face. 'Rana' was a student in Shiratorizawa and it was more than evident from her white and maroon uniform. Funnily, unlike now her garments were of girls.

His eyes moved to the next photo where she stood in a massive gymnasium...dressed in Shiratorizawa volleyball jersey the '1' displayed proudly over her chest. The girl was sitting in the middle of many standing girls who were pointing their index finger at the girl, smiling brightly. Turning his head down again, his eyes widened when he saw the reason why they were pointing down. A massive golden trophy was seated between her legs. Taking a careful look, he saw the golden medals decorating every girl's neck glamorously.

The next photo was similar except it sent him into suppressed fits of laughter. She was holding a similar trophy on top of her head, but her face just...he could not stop his laughter as loud chortles came out of his mouth. She looked...horrible. Her hair was cut into boys' hairstyle, spikes standing in all directions, and dyed a platinum blond. Even her eyebrows were gone! There was absolutely nothing where eyebrows were supposed to be and he could not help those loud giggles emanating from his mouth.

Why would she do that to her beauty, he thought for a second when attempting to catch his breath after laughing.

The next few photos comprised of her being awarded medals and smiling meekly in the photos. With each passing her smiles around newer and different grew larger; it was very unnoticeable with her straight and a rather serious face. Some of those photos comprised of two other boys, one with black-grey hair and owl-like eyes and the other who had black hair but a Cheshire cat-like grin plastered over his face. He did not know them but they appeared very close to the girl as they stood at her either side with an arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders. There was also a black-haired boy in some of those photos who appeared timid and as awkward as her, standing between the trio.

He continued to study those photos only to find the unconscious smile on his face contort to a massive scowl seeing who she stood next to with the trophy in her hand.

It was the one and only Ushijima Wakatoshi.

Both were sitting on a bench outside of the school underneath an afternoon bright sun with the heat falling over them, holding their respective trophies in hands low enough their faces were visible. They looked serious but he could sense both were close with the lack of distance between each other.

"He- Oh, you're checking out those photos?" He sensed her presence but did not turn around. Seeing Ushijima's face just flipped the smile switch off as his face was crowned with a bitter scowl. He loathed that boy with all his heart, the taunts, the loss, the parting words, all playing on a fast-forward in his head.

Before he could even think twice, Oikawa blurted the words out, "You are friends with Ushiwaka?"

There was a short silence from the other end, the bed creaking in indication she had seated herself on the bed followed by the words, "You mean 'were', and yeah, I was close friends with him." A short pause came which was trailed by a curious, "Why?" from her.

A bitter smile came on Oikawa's face as he replied without turning, "That Ushikawa Bastard...he scored you for a friend too, huh?" He did not want to tell her about the preliminaries final. Despite the time passing on what happened, the wounds were still too fresh for his liking and discussion.

"He is a bastard indeed even though he was my friend. I hated being compared to him when I was in Junior High. I hated being called the 'Female Ushijima' because I had my own identity, my strengths and my weaknesses. I hoped a different appearance in school would help get shake off his shadow, but it didn't help." Her tone had turned as bitter as his now and sensing it was not a difficult job for Oikawa who was surprised at how she spoke of her past. He could not help his eyes widening slightly in surprise, relating to the feelings of living in the super ace's shadow and being unable to shake it off. "Funnily, going against Ushijima in a match between the girls and boys led to a half-decent name like 'Beast of Shiratorizawa' for me."

The setter turned around to her with awe, "You played and won against Ushiwaka?! Matte, matte, you played volleyball too?!" Those photos were evidence of her being part of the volleyball team, but there was a high-end possibility she could have been part of the basketball or football team. He needed confirmation for both questions and what he desired, he got.

"Yes, I'm a volleyball player and no, I did not defeat the boys' team with my girls but I blocked his spikes and scored many against him."

His eyes widened more at that, learning this girl had scored points against the Super Ace and blocked numerous spikes of his. He had heard of the Beast of Shiratorizawa without paying any significant heed to them knowing the girls' games concerned him little in those days.

At the end of the sentence, Rana had turned up and looked at the boy with a smirk plastered over her face, one of pure satisfaction and pride. Oikawa found himself analysing her casual appearance from her lustrous but beautiful wavy-straight locks that fell past her shoulders and above her waist, some strands falling over her face and past her shoulders. Her eyes were no longer the brown colour he found attractive- they were two different colour with one being a beautiful emerald green and the other a dark ocean blue. He found himself gazing into them deeply because by the name of Kami-sama, they were the most ravishing thing he had seen in his life.

She was dressed in regular skin-tight denim jeans with a murky green shirt that had a photo of animated Yoda in the middle of the shirt, underneath printed his infamous quote that said, "No! Try not! Do or do not, there is no try!" His excitement of seeing a star wars shirt had made him entirely forget she was a girl until his eyes fell on her chest which looked a lot...bigger than it did in that tight shirt, causing his Adam's apple to bob up and down. Her physique was more feminine in this attire and very, VERY engaging to him as he found himself feeling hot for a moment there.

Trying to mask his pause he turned up to her with a huge smile, "Cutie-chan! You like Star Wars?!"

Her large eyes widened at his words before giving him a huge nod, "Yes! Oh my god, tell me you like it too."

"I do! I love Star Wars! Do you like space?!"

"Yes, yes! I love space so much because of studying constellations, the vast universe of unknown things laying before us especially-

"-aliens."

"-aliens!" The two had spoken the last word in sync before realising what they had said with the girl squealing out of excitement as she ran over and casually grabbed onto Oikawa's larger hands with a massive grin plastered over her face.

The boy was feeling his heart trip when he saw her reaction to his favourite-most thing in life. She loved aliens. She loved the space. She loved all the things he did. Her tight but thrilling grip on his hands made the beating muscle in his thump loudly against his rib-cage as he returned the strength of her hold with a genuine smile for the first time today.

"Oh God," she pauses for a second, turning her eyes down out of embarrassment, before looking back up at him with her beautiful eyes, "I told you so much about my life and never caught your name! What is it?"

The boy could not help the small chuckle that escaped his mouth at her innocence, replying with his killer flirtatious smile, "I'm Oikawa Tooru, cutie-chan, but you can call me Oikawa or Tooru though I'd prefer you calling me Tooru."

She paused for a second, deciding to taste his name on her tongue, "Tooru...Oikawa. Tooru." Her voice was so sweet and soothing, Oikawa almost found himself falling for her. "You're the great setter from Aoba Johsai, aren't you?"

He nodded at her words with the same smile, "Correct, cutie-chan."

At that, the girl drops all emotions from her face before resetting and curving her pink lips into a feminine smile which genuinely reached her eyes that shone underneath the lights of the room. Her face looked serene to Tooru, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Tooru. I'm Mizumoto Rana, but please call me Rana. I'd love that."

She was beautiful, more than beautiful. Oikawa could not help himself from placing a hand underneath her chin and tipping her head up to look deeply into her heterochromatic eyes, "Since you are so beautiful and cute, I'll call you my cutie-chan." He fully expected her to fall in love with him now if not later.

A small giggle came out of her lips before she nodded avidly, "I don't mind being your cutie-chan, Tooru! I like you already!"

Did she..not understand he was actually flirting with her? His words and action had not even resulted in a small blush from her, but a giggle that was not even out of the fact he had tried to flirt with her. Her behaviour had confused him for certain, but he minded it not. For he knew one thing with certainty.

They were going to be best friends in future.

Oikawa and Rana turned back to the photos and found their eyes going on the set he did not see earlier, finding himself surprised at what they showed before turning to her, "Cutie-chan, you ice-skate too?"

She chuckled embarrassingly at his comments, "Yes." finding her eyes falling on one of the photos where she was standing on the ice with a bronze medal surrounding her neck in pride, a bouquet of roses in her hand. In the photo, her head was of boy's length, slicked back with few strands falling over her face. Her genuine eye-colour was displayed out on the open with a small smile spread over her lips. "After I quit volleyball almost four years ago, I was advised to pick another sport and so I kind of picked figure-skating as my go-to since my distant relative and his boyfriend were in it. I was over their place for the past the two years and just..trained with him until he left for the Olympics." Her eyes glimmered in memories of how her two years went with him in Hasetsu, Kyushu. It felt like a distant memory now; a pleasant but far one.

Oikawa's eyebrow quirked slightly at that, "Who is your relative?" 

Rana turned to him with a small smile displayed over her lips, tilting her head slightly, "Yuri Katsuki."  

It was at that moment when Iwaizumi burst opens the door like a member of some SWAT team, frightening the duo. When the boy saw their petrified faces, he relaxed his posture and sighed with both eyes closed before pointing his thumb outside, "Oi, Trashykawa and Mizumoto-san, the dinner is ready." 

They sighed simultaneously in relief as Rana decided to walk up to the boy before her who could not stop calling Oikawa with silly names. She gave him a sweet smile before raising a hand in the air to him, "Hi, we haven't introduced ourselves yet but I'm Rana Mizumoto. I'm sorry for pinning you to the ground!"

"Oh, uh" pink crossed the boy's cheeks when he noticed how her eyes with shining, matching her bright smile all of which was just aimed at him. He raised his hand to shake hers politely, "I'm Iwaizumi Hajime, nice to meet you Mizumoto-san. I'm also sorry for following you like a stalker because of Shittykawa over there."

 The mentioned boy began to whine loudly, "Iwa-chan! Stop being so mean and exposing me!" 

Iwaizumi was going to retort at him but paused when he heard the fruity laughter come from the girl who was smiling at Oikawa with her face turned to him. She laughed at that idiot which wasn't surprising at all, but her words following surely were, "It's okay, Tooru. I don't mind it. If you both hadn't followed me, I wouldn't have gained you for a friend."

Oikawa grinned at the girl before walking up and standing right next to her, "You're right, Rana-chan."

The spiker could not help his confusion hearing her call that idiot by 'Tooru'. 'Are they already on the first name basis?' he thought to himself, muddled. 'What the hell am I in, a cliche romance novel, third-wheeling?' The mere idea of that disgusted him as he cringed outwardly slightly at how the two were behaving with one another. 

"Oi, I said it's dinner time. Get downstairs." The duo nodded in unison before rushing downstairs behind the ever-puzzled Iwaizumi who could not believe they were already friends within an hour and looked to be getting into a romantic relationship soon. 

Her mother was done putting up the plates all over the island by the time they arrived downstairs. Her twin siblings were already seated on their respective stooles, turning around with the stood of feet thumps against the wood. 

As Oikawa saw, they were fraternal twins but twins for certain. The boy between them had dark-brown eyes and a shaved head. 'Chotto mate,' he thought suddenly, remembering her mother's words when they had newly met each other. 'That's her sister!' he realised in surprise. Her eyes were sullen and sleepy, looking almost irritatingly at him and Iwaizumi. Her hostile look did not surprise Iwaizumi but it certainly hurt Oikawa.

 Her brother, as he configured, looked a little different to the female twin with his long hair ponied up on top of his head and standing stiff above..making him look like a turnip ready to get plucked out of the ground. It made the setter want to chuckle. As he observed further, this boy's eyes were an ocean blue; he had thick eyebrows unlike his sister that were furrowed close permanently in confusion, a grumpy look fixated on his face. 

The girl was dressed in a black hoodie with jeans while the boy was dressed in a red one with denim jeans. Had it not been for their different eye-colours and facial expressions accompanied by their...hairstyles, they would have looked almost the same. Never mind, they looked nothing alike. They dully introduced themselves to Oikawa much like how they had done with Iwaizumi, both lacking the energy Rana did. It was almost as if Rana was granted with everyone's energy in this house, hence her behaviour.

Oikawa sat next to Rana happily while Iwaizumi took a seat next to Missus Mizumoto without any complain because after spending time with her in the kitchen, he realised she was a great and well-renowned woman tired of her daughter's wild antics much like he was of his setter best friend. The two bonded over their rants about the stupid things the two did and talked about it over the cooking. Iwaizumi also learned she was an amazing cook with the unique but intriguing dishes she made for them all. 

"Today's dish is manthu, which is a traditional dish from my background. I hope you boys enjoy it!" The woman clapped her hands together and sat down. They all said a small prayer which was different from what they had ever seen in their lives but spoke not aloud about it. Oikawa could not help himself from diverting his attention towards the girl next to him who had put her hands together with both eyes fluttered closed and whispering something underneath her breath with a pleasant smile on her face. She was beautiful. 

He sighed contently and looked down at the unique dish on his plate. Thanking Missus Mizumoto for letting them over and cooking the dinner for them, the boy began to eat it slowly as if to taste it inspectingly. When the tastes flooded his mouth, his eyes began to water comically much like Rana who was already crying out of happiness. "T-this is marvellous, Misses Mizumoto! I-I have never tasted something as good as this!" 

"Trashy-kawa don't talk when you're eating, dammit!" 

The woman smiled gently at the boy with a blush overcoming her face at the sweet compliment, "Thank you, son. As long as you two enjoy it, I'm more than happy."

Iwaizumi tasted his food and surprisingly found himself in agreement to what Oikawa said. It was delicious! Unique but tasty. He turned to the woman and gave a slight bow of his head as if to thank her to which she replied with 'you're welcome' and a smile. 

They continued to eat with Rana and Oikawa conversing between themselves about various topics, switching between space and conspiracy theories back and forth without breaking the flow of the conversation. Her mother and Iwaizumi were caught off with how surprisingly well they got along, laughing and acting like life-long best friends when they had met merely two hours ago. 

Iwaizumi and the older woman were distracted from their conversation when one of the two twins named Koji sighed loudly to capture his mother's attention, "Man, I'm sick and tired of the boys in my school not being able to play volleyball. All they do is video-game and I'm tired of that!" 

He received an affirmative nod from his silent sister whose name was Sheba, "I may be a video-gamer, but he's right. There's no one over here in my class who can play volleyball either; it's annoying, ma." 

Their mother sighed and shrugged, "We can't do anything about it, honey. I want you to study in a private school for now; I promise to transfer you two to a public school in Junior High." 

Oikawa caught a gist of the discussion taking place, pausing his conversation with Rana and turning to the pair of twins, "Ne Sheba-chan and Koji-chan, nobody plays volleyball in your school?"

Their faces turned into deadpanned expressions as they narrowed their eyes seriously at the boy, "Yeah." the way they spoke in sync sent a shiver down Oikawa's spine; it was evident they did not like him much, but he intended to change that just now! There's no one out there who could not like Oikawa Tooru!

"I'm going to give you two an offer you cannot refuse." The reference to The Godfather caught their attention as they leaned towards Oikawa who leaned in their direction to discuss what he has to give them as a proposal.

"I've opened up volleyball classes for kids of your age where I teach them and play alongside them during weekends and on Monday. Even my nephew, who's of your age, attends it. It's pretty fun because other kids in it love volleyball too!" 

Their jaws dropped in surprise at the same time, completely forgetting how they disliked the pretty boy just a few minutes ago, before they turned to their mother with pleading eyes, hoping she'd say yes. The woman sighed at their looks before asking, "Who would pick them from the place then?"

Rana raised her hand and answered, "I'll do it! I mean I have my volleyball practise on Mondays, but I don't mind picking them up for one day out of five and leaving it early." She shrugged slightly at that. 

Oikawa turned to Rana, raising his hand for a high-five before saying, "Yay! We will get to meet more often now, cutie-chan!" His high-five was returned with similar enthusiasm before the duo fell into another conversation about the recent appearances of UFOs in France that their government is attempting to hide in all seriousness.

Iwaizumi slowly looked at her mother who shrugged in embarrassment, realising that Rana had found someone who happened to be her living male version. The two chaotic parties were put together and Iwaizumi's worst nightmare had come to life within mere hours. 

 


	9. Chapter 9

A week passed for the five soldiers in failure where they had begun to work hard for good grades all for the sake of their training camp that ought to take place in Tokyo with three weeks. Tanaka and Nishinoya had already begun to show improvement as observed by the teachers while the first-year duo was trying its best for the sake of good grades, studying with either Tsukishima or the new first-year who just might become their new manager -- the decision was still on the blonde who Rana could not help but find adorable.

Speaking of the new ace, things weren't going the...best for her. Her alter-ego 'Daisuke' was going well for the girls who she took out on study dates, she was sitting with Sugawara after volleyball practice to study but she was still struggling with math and physics.

The two subjects were her breaking point each time Sugawara made her study or the other girls who were out on dates with her.

Tonight was no different as she sat next to Sugawara in the boys' locker-room who was busy trying to explain electromagnetism to her. They had a chair pulled out over which they kept the textbook as the two sat around it. He had his right hand's thumb, index and middle finger pointed out, all at a ninety-degree angle to each other in an attempt to teach her the Fleming's Right Hand Rule.

"So as you can see, Rana, the thumb represents the motion, the index shows where the magnetic field is moving towards and the middle finger indicates-"

"-me saluting this good-for-nothing of a topic," she finished the sentence, her eyes as lifeless as ever. The poor boy had been sitting with her for the past thirty minutes and this is the longest phrase he got out of her throughout this time.

Clutching the book to his chest with his eyebrows furrowing in worry, he began to scold the girl, "Rana, that is very rude and wrong to say!" He heard coughs and laughter coming from around the two as he looked around at Tsukishima, Yamaguchi and even Daichi laughing though the latter was doing an attempt to cover it with a cough.

"Guys, stop laughing and encouraging her further!"

Sugawara was the only one attempting to study with her from all the boys because he was good at subjects she suffered in. Nishinoya and Tanaka were no longer studying with the setter as Ennoshita, Kinoshita and Narita were taking over as the duo's new study mates, giving the senior setter all the time to teach the girl. So, Rana had Sugawara's entire attention which made her life more miserable than it already had become due to all the 'study dates'.

Yelling randomly on top of her lungs, she threw her figure back and rested her head on top of her hands that supported it whilst she stared up at the plain grey ceiling of the locker room. She did not want to study after a week of little progress so when she remembered tomorrow was weekend, her heart couldn't be more content out of happiness, "Ah, sweet honey weekend. No more study dates, no more studying, nothing for a good two days."

"Who said you will not be studying?" Rana froze at the grave ton of the voice which asked her a question as dreadful as that. She slowly picked her head up to meet the eyes of Sugawara who was looking down on the sprawled figure of the girl with an intimidating gaze.

Oh no. This does not seem good.

She sat up straight, meeting eyes with the boy before chuckling almost nervously as she began to fumble in her own words, "Uh- heh, me, I, uh guess?" The boys that were in the room stilled because none of them with the exception of Daichi and Asahi had seen a serious or near-angry Sugawara in their lives. Even Daichi and Asahi were fearful of the girl's life that looked like it would escape her any moment now.

"You're not having a single free weekend until you've shown improvement in physics and math. The times you laughed at Nishinoya and Tanaka for having study hang-outs at their homes during the weekend are over because now we will be studying together until you learn this," he pointed at the more than three hundred-paged books. His eyes were dark and almost scary to the girl who swallowed the spit that collected in her mouth whilst returning Sugawara's intimidating gaze with a petrified look.

The setter had officially taken teaching her as a challenge and he intended not to leave her to peace until she got that book through her head regardless of how thick it was.

Oh, she was dead for good. Everyone knew that especially Tanaka who turned on his Buddhavista face again in prayer for the girl's gone spirit.

 

 

The weekend had commenced after a tiring Friday that comprised of consistent practice with the boys and later, a half-hour study with Sugawara which ended on a grave note when he reminded her they had to meet up over the weekend for studying. After deciding to meet at a small cafe for a three-hour study session, they all parted from each other with Sugawara and rest going on their way and Rana on her usual path.

On their way to their homes, no one even bothered teasing Sugawara by calling it anything remotely close to a 'date'. They knew well from the girl's sullen face that it would be one study-session she would get grey hair from as a side effect.

It was a lovely Saturday afternoon and everyone in the Mizumoto household was busy preparing for a short trip to Tokyo Museum, unlike a certain girl who happened to be the middle daughter of the family. Standing in front of the elongated body-length mirror, she fixated her hair in a long ponytail that stood erected in the back perfectly before permitting her long dark straight-wavy locks to flow downwards elegantly. 

She had dressed in a quarter-sleeved loose shirt that was plain white; over it, a grey full-sleeved hoodie was worn which was loose until the end of the sleeves which was tad elastic and clung onto her wrists tightly. For her bottom she had ripped jeans on that were tight and hugged her thighs perfectly, exposing some of her upper leg portion's flesh out to the world. Rana chooses regular Nike sneakers for shoes today.

When she realised her plain appearance was good to go, she turned on her heel and grabbed the Louis Vuitton Neverfull bag she had stuffed her Physics textbook, pens along with a spare notebook inside. With a swift swing, it was hanging over her shoulder which made her good to go.

Loudly sighing, she walked over to the staircase and started to climb down until she reached the door. Wishing a loud 'have fun' to her family, she exited and began to make way over to the designated cafe with a scowl on her face. She was envious of her family for visiting Tokyo on a two-day vacation without insisting Rana come at all even though she was currently the oldest child in the entire family! 

The girl gravely regretted telling them about her study plans with her teammate on the club.

After a few minutes of walking, she had finally reached the Western-styled cafe where she entered inside and surveyed around in search of Sugawara who she identified after a few seconds, sitting in the further back left corner of the place, waving gently to capture her attention. 

The boy had dressed in a casual white shirt which he had completely buttoned up with denim tight jeans and beige boat shoes on. He had a black expensive watch adorning his wrist, one he never wore to school or practices in fear it would break due to the people around him.

When he laid eyes on the figure of Mizumoto, he could not help but gape a little. She was dressed like an ordinary girl with her bare face, high ponytail, baggy clothing and ripped denim jeans. It was the first anyone from the team had met the girl outside of school, so he supposed that fact to be the element behind his surprise though he could stop going crimson a little seeing the new ace look adorable in her casual attire.

Sitting on the seat opposite to him, she gave him a wide smile before greeting, "Ohayo, Sugawara-senpai. I hope I did not disturb your day with this study session!" 

He shook his head mannerly, "Ne ne, Rana-san. You did not disturb it at all, rather I feel like I was the one who disturbed yours since I came up with this session for every weekend. Also please call me just Sugawara or just Suga shall suffice." He felt odd being called a senpai out of the school grounds and by a girl who was supposed to be in the same grade as him...had she not failed almost every final exam. 

Chuckling bitterly, remembering the betrayal by the hands of her blood, she replied, "You did not disturb my schedule. I guess it's better to study than sit idly when your family is out checking Tokyo museum out. Also, I'll call you that if you drop the honorary titles too!" 

A small frown appeared on his face when he noticed how sad she sounded speaking of her family leaving her behind to go to Tokyo, "I'm sorry about your family abandoning you like that." He paused for a moment to answer her last request with a smile, "I'll call you Rana, then." 

She gave him one of her iconic rather feminine smiles that unbeknownst to her sent men swooning over her before replying, "Perfect, Sugawara." Her different coloured eyes glimmered brightly under the light that hung from the ceiling right above them which did not help the blush that dusted over his cheeks, realising how pretty she was when acting less...psychotic. 

It was a good thing Rana turned around to pull out of her textbooks instead of catching a glimpse of Sugawara's pink cheeks, who also turned his head to pull his books out to study when he gave the girl questions to solve on her own.

\- 

Soft music played in the speakers of the quietened cafe when everyone had left to tend to their businesses with the exception of the duo which remained seated in the corner, studying silently. Two hours had passed and they had covered two chapters of their respective textbooks whilst one sipped from their latte and the other, a cup of cappuccino both of which were empty now. 

The boy was far easier for her to understand outside of the locker-room where everyone spoke and her mind dwindled in their conversations more than what Sugawara was explaining to her ever-so patiently. 

He continually gave her questions to solve from the former question sheet he had prepared when he was a second-year himself. So far, Rana had gotten five out of nine questions from Kinematics and four of ten questions Electromagnetism correct which was great considering they were her greatest weaknesses so far. 

At times when the girl would get done with her set of given questions, she would set her chin on top of her piled arms and watch Sugawara solve his questions silently, seeing the pen in his hand move elegantly over the paper, writing various numbers which he added subtracted, multiplied or divided. She did not cringe or move away despite having a certain amount of hatred towards numbers when having something to do with math; rather she felt relaxed and calm watching him work with a smile on his lips. 

There were times where she would look up from the paper and see his eyebrows furrow in confusion when he did not understand a question on the first read. He would take the pen, gently tap it against his chin in an attempt to think before all clicked and he could begin to write it down though with a pace much faster than the one he wrote a question in. 

When he would lift his hazel eyes from the paper, he would give her a small smile out of shyness, asking if she had done his given questions before providing her more to solve that would result in a small pout appearing over her lips as her head would lift to solve the questions. 

And that is how two and a half hours passed between the two, resulting in Sugawara calling for a small break and ordering hot coffee for the two once again as they fell in conversation about different things about life other than just school. They talked about how the cherry blossom trees would be blooming by the time the Spring Tournament starts which would make Tokyo look more beautiful than it already is, how beautiful nature in this nation is as compared to other countries. He asked her to tell her about how the world outside of Japan looks which resulted in her telling him many other things other than just about Australia's scary spiders, the on-water resorts of Maldives and glow in the dark caves of Waitomo in New Zealand. 

He learned about her younger twin siblings and an older brother who was not always around, but when he was the two had the best times due to their closeness. Her mother and father were still together and in a very happy marriage regardless of how strict mother was in case of her and father. 

In the talks, the two shared, Sugawara began to notice little things about her. She closed her eyes with a smile when speaking of her brother in an attempt to relive and see his face in her mind. She would shudder in fright when remembering her fears and would look up while pouting when trying to remember something. She was peaceful whilst speaking of nature as the greenery brought ease to her.

He also noticed her calmness today that was not there at school or during volleyball practice. There were little traces of her eccentric personality which was out most of the time when on school grounds; rather she sounded calm without the peculiar street accent that she spoke loudly in. Sugawara realised from their time today that there was much that laid underneath her anomalous personality. 

He would be lying if he said he did not enjoy or like this side of the girl. 

"So, how were things over at Shiratorizawa when you were a Captain of the girls' team?" He inquired after their discussion about spiders got over, the smile from it still pertaining upon his life. 

She grinned and answered without growing uncomfortable at the question, "It was amazing! They liked and respected me," her eyes averted from his' and looked off into the distance, her smile taking a more nostalgic turn, "The girls were pretty cool honestly. Our setter was awesome. Her tosses were really good and got me spiking good balls." Her mind raked for more happier moments with the girls who she happily played with for almost three years, making good and bad memories alike. It was a pleasant time.

A pleasant time she would never want to taste again.

"So you were a good leader huh, captain?" He teased her before sipping on the coffee, his hazel eyes looking into hers, an eyebrow quirked cheekily. 

The girl chuckled in embarrassment before shrugging, "If I gave them wins, does that make me a good leader?"

The setter pouted before looking up, tapped a pen against his head in pretence and acting as if he were thinking deeply about this before looking down to her curious eyes, answering, "A team consists of twelve to thirteen players, not one. I think they were all talented thoroughly; all they ever needed was a leader to guide them. And that, that turned out to be you."

She nodded in agreement, smiling at his answer because he was indeed correct. Every person on her team was talent but there was a lack of coordination and inner rivalry between players which created discord on the court whenever they played. With one lecture, cooperation and proper understanding, the Shiratorizawa team began to function as a body. A body that could not be brought down anymore. 

"Do you prefer Karasuno or Shiratorizawa?" 

Rana took a moment to answer this question, planning it out carefully in her head to answer with sheer honesty, her gaze falling over the wooden table, "Shiratorizawa gave me one thing that I had been seeking my entire life: acceptance. It taught me that my appearance didn't make me different than the rest of the people; all that mattered was how good I played and the amount of effort and passion I put in it. But by giving me acceptance, it took everything else away from me. It took away my friends, my peace, my happiness, volleyball away from me. It never felt home." There was grimness in her voice that told the setter at the back of his head there was something hidden within those words that were getting masked, but he kept silent and listened with intent, realising she had more to say upon lifting her head and meet his eyes with a small smile glazing over her lips.

"Karasuno feels different. It gave me my happiness and volleyball back. It gave me new friends, new memories and so many things I could not be grateful enough for me. I feel welcomed here. I feel happy. Do you understand what I'm saying, Sugawara? I feel home in Karasuno, with you guys, volleyball and everything over here. So really-, " her eyes shone in happiness underneath the light hanging from the ceiling before closing them, her smile turning softer, "-I wouldn't give up Karasuno and this team for Shiratorizawa even if it's free."

Sugawara couldn't stop the satisfied and relieved chuckle leaving his mouth. Her answer could not have made him any happier. They brought her happiness without any of them ever realising. They gave her what she lost without them ever knowing. And that alone made the setter the happiest person alive in that existing moment between the two.

More hours went by in which they studied two more chapters, and before they knew it night had fallen upon them as six hours had gone past without either realising until a waiter came and mentioned the cafe closing early on weekends. 

Outside of the cafe, Sugawara asked to walk her home but she politely denied despite his insistence on not letting a girl walk alone to an empty house on Saturday night. 

It was when they departed that Sugawara felt oddly empty after his busy day with her. The whole day had gone past them without it dawning upon either one of them even once since they were so occupied in studying and conversing the entirety of time.

They say good time always happens to fly by past. 

Sugawara came to believe that quote on that particular Saturday night.


	10. Chapter 10

Rana took a deep breath and looked at the clock once again. It was ticking its way towards ringing twelve which made her feel as baked up there as the cookies inside the oven which were taking their sweet time in getting ready. She bent down to see the cookies to see if they're faring well in there, and quite to her luck they actually were. 

With a breath of relief, she looked up and pressed a hand on the side of her hip, picking up the phone in her hands and going on her messenger app immediately to see the next message to arrive. 

'Suga (volleyball): I'll be over in five minutes! Sorry to keep you waiting!'

Her heart stilled for a second after finishing reading that particular message, realising Sugawara would be reaching home soon and the cookies were still not done..and the entire kitchen was a mess on itself! She needed to become responsible and take action right now or else she would embarrass herself in front of her teammate without any shame left...not that there was any before anyways; she had to keep her family name up at least. 

And so by tightening the apron knot behind her, she slid on her mother's gloves and grabbed a wet towel to clean up the mess she had created in the last three hours shamelessly. 

In case you're wondering why she's so worked up, cooking and being responsible today, then allow me to apprise you on it. 

The cafe the duo went to have their study sessions in was closed for the entire weekend due to the owner's wife dying, which they dearly paid condolences to prior to leaving on another Sunday morning. That day, they chose a bustling cafe as their location which proved very hectic since the noise did not allow Sugawara to teach her nor did the girl have a single thing enter through her head because of her concentration finding its way into another stranger's phone conversation about his miserable marriage with a cheating wife. Relaying that gossip to Sugawara resulted in a scolding from him, nothing else.

Seeing as the place would be shut for a while and the other public places were always caught in the never-ending commotion on weekends, giving them no place to study together in peace. The two were left with no option but to study at either one's house before deciding Rana's house was a more feasible alternative between the two, though the boy never revealed why. Not like she minded it anyways, her siblings were out with her mother once again after attending their classes with Oikawa early in the morning while her dad had to stay here due to pressing work-related matters, but he wouldn't be home until late at night, leaving her home alone once again. 

It was a good kind of home alone though. The house was peaceful and she could study without her sister screaming her lungs out at the tv while playing her WWE wrestling game on the new PlayStation her father had gotten her -- something he came to regret after waking up to a controller stuck in the middle of the tv screen. 

The oven's timer rang out in the air while she was sweeping the ground carefully, causing her to quickly put the trash material into the pan that came with it, emptying it into the trashcan before throwing the gloves off and running over to the oven to open it and bring the cookies out. 

Just as she grabbed it, a loud scream came out of her mouth as she harshly placed the rectangular mat on the island and looked at her hands that had immediately turned red from grabbing the hot metal with her hands without realising she needed gloves. The rush had resulted from everything in the girl performing such a reckless act. 

The burning feeling on her hands began to hurt a lot as she kicked the oven's door shut in anger before tears began to leak out of her eyes from all the pain that spread over her hands like fire, hurting more than she initially thought it would. 

It was at that moment the bell rang, alerting her that he had arrived which made her crying worse as she ran over to the door, unlocking it with the back of her hands carefully enough not to hurt herself more. 

Just as the door opened, Sugawara's cheery smile was replaced with a worried expression seeing the wing-spiker of his team with quivering lips, wet face and hiccups coming out of her mouth. She was wearing a white frilly apron around her body while holding her hands away from her that occurred to be a throbbing red. 

"Rana, what happened?!" He asked worriedly, quickly entering inside the house and throwing his bag to the side before shutting the door behind himself. He took his shoes off without looking at them, eyes fixated on the sobbing girl.

She lazily wiped at her tears before answering, "I was- HIC!- trying to bake cookies for you -HIC!- and I -HIC!- burnt my hands -HIC!- It hurts so much." Her crying became worse from the excruciating pain, hiding her face away with the back of her hands from him out of embarrassment. It was awkward to cry in front of a teammate; she did not want to show him she was weak but the searing pain in her hands made her situation so much worse. 

Her crying paused when she felt two hands wrap around her wrists and bring her's down from her face, surprising her. Her watery eyes were met with Sugawara's soft ones; he was smiling kindly at her, "Rana, don't be embarrassed. You didn't have to do that, but first, let's get this burn treated. Yes?" 

He received a slight nod from her before he took her by the hands towards the kitchen, bring her to the sink. Sugawara told her to put her hands under the running lukewarm water for a few minutes, which she did. It hurt feeling the colder water touch her burning hands, but it slowly numbed underneath it. Seeing her expression soften from the pain which decreased brought upon a small smile on his face, realising the girl was already doing better.

Once done with that, he took her towards the island and made her sit down on one of the stools, commanding her not to move. The setter asked for the first aid-box which she pointed to be in one of the top cupboards as he grabbed it up from there before sitting on the seat next to hers. He closely observed her fingers and palm for any sign of a blister occurring but there were none, making him sigh in relief. Blisters would have hurt a lot and result in her not attending the practice for a while nor write in a while, and that would be rather troublesome given exams were two weeks away now. 

He turned his attention to the first aid box and pulled out antibiotic ointment and bandages. Taking some of the ointment, he took her right hand in his and began to slowly apply it over the parts which had come in contact with whatever that resulted in the burns in the first place. Sugawara heard slight winces coming out her mouth each time the ointment and his fingers came in contact with her hand as if she were still in pain, so he decided to take it upon himself to distract her.

"Rana, why did you bake cookies for me?" He asked, trying to take her mind. 

He heard a short sigh come from her mouth before she replied, "Mum taught me to be a good host to all of my guests, and since you were coming over I wanted to be a good host to you too. I'm good at making cookies for my family, so I wanted to give you cookies too." The last sentence was spoken with such a child-like demeanour, it was taking Sugawara all his might not to coo and tackle her in a hug. 

'She is so adorable', he thought to himself. 

 "You're too kind, Rana." 

She raised her hand up and curled it up for a thumb up, one eye closed and a loop-sided grin on her face, "I'm the best person and DJ in this town after all." When she felt the pain level jump in the hand she had done that gesture with, that's when she realised the gravity of her action.

"WAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Rana idiot! Be careful!"

 

-

 

"So when you multiply the four with the 'a' and 'c' value, you'll be getting the number you have to subtract from the 'b' value before taking its under root, got that?" 

A glum nod was received from the girl, looked down at the paper Sugawara had neatly written the quadratic equation on for her. Despite her boring answer, he knew the girl got it so he quickly wrote three equations for her to solve. The sight of three equations distressed her but she picked the pen up gently and began to solve carefully with Sugawara correcting her back and forth.

The two were sitting in her room together where she had brought a round chabudai table for her and the boy to study on. Sitting right next to one another, their bags to their sides with their textbooks and notebooks sprawled over the table as they solved their respective questions in enjoyable silence. 

Her head went from being supported by the back of her hand to getting slumped down on the table as she lazily wrote down the answer from the corner of her eye that she had not shut close to see better. 

Sugawara looked over at Rana and chuckled seeing how tightly she was pressing her lips against one another and writing as carefully as possible to avoid hurting herself. The past weeks, he had observed her be a very messy writer who pressed too hard on the pencil or pen whenever she wrote; having to write and press as lightly as possible against the pen was proving to be a very tedious task for the girl who was trying to do her best.

But it didn't last too long when the boy pointed another mistake out and the frustration caused her to accidentally press against the pencil too hard and injuring her hand as she dropped the object and grabbed onto her hand with other the other one, resulting in the other getting hurt too. She led out a train of curses, getting off the ground and holding her hands open with anger and frustration seething underneath her skin. 

"Rana, Rana, are you okay?!" He asked worriedly, dropping his own pen and looking at the girl whose eyes went from being attentive towards the questions to burning in a manner he had not seen before. 

His heart dropped in his chest when she snapped her head in his directions, her eyes ablaze with a gaze that sent shivers down his spine. There were no remanents left of the smiling and cheery Rana who had been studying with him the past weekends, who whined and pouted whenever she wouldn't get anything. He always saw something in her eyes that she hid with her childish behaviour, but never did he speak something about it. Sugawara took it as something as a figment of his mere imagination, nothing else. 

A feeling in his chest told him he should have taken it more seriously and what unfolded before him the following hours made him realise he should always pay heed to his gut feeling regardless of any situation.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

The three weeks flew by easily along with the final exams that took place. Much to Takaeda's surprise, the girl had not run away from any of the papers or called in sick. Rather from what he heard from mouths of other teacher's who were invigilating during their respective papers, she was fully concentrating on solving every question without skipping any of them. His heart was feeling wholesome upon learning about that given how all of them were complaining about her inability to concentrate during classes. 

It was obvious the 'study dates' along with study sessions held with Sugawara had helped her more than the classes ever could. 

During these weeks, Yachi had been hired as a new manager who was a shy timid girl that was about the same height as her and Hinata. She grew nervous easily and tended to overthink which was why the girl had a hard time approaching the new ace of the group. Her early leaves from practice to concentrate on studies back gave her little to no opportunity to speak to the little girl. 

In the past month, the team also played a match against Ogi Nishi where Mizumoto did not get an opportunity to debut due to the match being short comprising of two sets which Karasuno won. Asahi was being more than a perfect ace, so there was no chance she would be subbed in considering her moves on defence still needed more work that she had no time to practice volleyball outside of school; she needed to concentrate on her exams more for the sake of Tokyo. 

Her lack of need in that practice match wasn't the only reason that she couldn't play. Her jersey still wasn't made that would comprise of her Number 'Thirteen' on the volleyball team, making it rather inappropriate to introduce her like that. Not that she minded really; her head was too wrapped around exams to pay heed to things like that.

 

Rana was done early with her last exam which turned out to be English as she slides the paper on the table before raising her hand, informing the teacher she was finished with it. After being granted an early leave unlike Tanaka sitting next to her, she picked her bag up and walked out of the exam hall, a sigh of relief escaping her throat. 

The tiresome exam week was over for good and now all that remained was the dreadful day her result will be handed over to her by various teachers. She did not want to think of that out of the anxiety that flared in her chest, so she emptied her head and began to walk over to the Girl's changing room to dress up in her volleyball attire.

Upon entering the room, she took off the boys' uniform she had on and slid on a plain white shirt along with her black shorts that came with Karasuno's volleyball club uniform. She did not initially wear it out of slight insecurity she felt due to the small scars that decorated her legs from playing volleyball in the past, but now Rana did not hold such feelings know the boys in her team never judged or questioned her on them. 

Pulling the zip of her black Karasuno jacket up to her mid-section and pulling her hair in a high ponytail, she smiled proudly before jumping out of the room, skipping the whole way over to the gymnasium. She was free of exams or anything that stood between her and the beautiful game.

She arrived inside the gymnasium to find the three third-years on the team inside, practising together. A huge grin came over her face as she waved her hand wildly at them, "Yo yo, boys! Whaddup?!" 

It was more than prominent that the girl was happy and burning with energy after her last exam as they all waved back and returned her greetings with hey's and hellos. Daichi watched her skip over to Sugawara before bowing down briskly much to the boy's surprise, "Arigatou for all the time you spent studying with me, Sugawara! You cannot imagine how grateful I am for your help!" 

The mentioned boy chuckled lightly before asking her to raise her head, replying, "It was nothing, Rana. I was just helping a friend and teammate out. My only hope is that your exams went well and you score amazing."

 The girl had thanked him with hugs on two different occasions, them being post-physics and math papers. Funnily, both were the most awkward moment for the two as she had tackled the senior in huge hugs before everyone in the team, surprising them. Rana only realised she had hugged a boy when she would pull away which would result in a train of apologies coming out of her mouth when everyone was gone and it was just them. He would forgive her no matter what because he learned the reason behind her impulsive behaviour a while ago. Even then, the setter could not help the pink that would cover his cheeks. 

His fellow third-years noticed their closeness ever since the study sessions began between the two which escalated a greater notch after the third week of them meeting up. Sugawara was looking out for her more than he did usually did, asking if she felt okay when inattentive to the ball that went past a little more than usual. The only reply he would get was a serious nod which would ease him. Neither of the two boys question Sugawara on it knowing well he knew something rather personal about the girl that he could take care of as the Vice-Captain of the team.

It was a good thing that Tanaka, Nishinoya and the first-years were oblivious to all this with them being caught up with all the exam tension or else they wouldn't have left Rana without getting an answer out of her regarding their closeness. 

"Were you the only one that finished early today?" Daichi had asked when Sugawara and Rana ended their conversation with large smiles on their faces. 

She gave him a large smile before raising an arm and pointed a thumb at herself in pride, "Since English is my subject and the paper was easy peasy lemon squeezy for me, hell yeah!" Though the Captain did not understand the point of her adding those unnecessary words in the sentence, he still walked over and ruffled her hair gently, replying with a 'good job'.

"Since others are still busy, we might as well play and Rana can practice her receives. Sugawara and Asahi, you stand on the other side of the court while she will stay on the opposite. Send her spikes she can receive."

"OSU!" She was determined to receive most of them today as she put her hands together and got herself in position in the middle of her court whilst staring right back at Asahi who looked determined just as much as Sugawara. Daichi handed the setter a ball to serve the regular ace. 

Throwing it up in the air, the practice commenced for the trio where the girl missed balls here and there whilst Daichi continually gave her tips on fixing her posture, keeping eyes on the ball as Asahi pursued his offensive attacks for her to stop. 

"Do more!" Daichi commanded despite seeing the girl rolling to stop the ball from each side. She was doing well today considering she had only missed five balls out of fifteen, but the Captain had the intention to decrease that number to zero. Rana was a significant player he regretted not playing during the practice match against Ogi Nishi High. Her unstoppable spikes were something worth marvelling and he just wanted to show the other teams how much more powerful their team, now, was with the girl on their side. 

Beads of sweat rolled down her forehead as she watched Asahi serve the ball to Sugawara; he quickly set it for the ace who changed his positions and spiked it into her side of the court, right behind where she stood. Her eyes went wide for a second, realising the ball might slip from her hands if she did not take action quickly. So she turned around and skid her body over the court before putting her entwined hands up to hit the ball full force into their side of the field. 

Jumping to her feet she began to eye the ball that Sugawara received and passed over to Asahi who threw it in her side resulting in a loud 'chance ball!' emanating from her. Rana ran over where the ball was going, grabbing the ball in her grasp and setting it up for ownself towards the right corner near the nets before running over there in her well-renowned speed and jumping up in the air, slamming the ball against the wooden floor after which Sugawara had slid on the ground in an attempt to stop it earlier.

"BOO-YEAH!" she shouted on top of her lungs as she raised her hand to fist bump the air with a huge smile on her face. 

Daichi raised an eyebrow in surprise while Sugawara, who had gotten off the ground, went over to the beaming girl. "Woah, you set up your own ball with that speed? Where did you learn to do that?" Asahi had asked, looking down at the girl with wonder. 

Placing her hands on her hips she threw her head back and laughed loudly before answering nonchalantly, "I taught that to myself, of course!" She went on to explain that she learned how to do that when she would practice for volleyball matches in Junior High at home and since she had no one around who could set balls up for her with her brother busy with his own games, she began to do both on her own. Placing a hand on her chin, she looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully, "Though I did not expect to get that move right after not doing it for the past three years." 

Their conversation came to a halt when Tanaka, Nishinoya burst through the doors loudly, followed by Hinata and Kageyama, who were screaming about the end of the exams. Seeing them so excited caused her to get all pumped in happiness again as she ran over to them, giving Nishinoya and Tanaka high-fives along with painful first bumps which she did not whine about unlike the other two boys (her pain tolerance was higher than them). Turning over to Hinata, she gave him a high-five before grabbing him in a large hug which he excitedly returned as the two twirled around until the boy felt like he would throw up, making the girl jump back but not without giving him a huge smile. 

She looked at Kageyama expectedly who looked back at her in confusion, not comprehending what she meant until she raised both of her hands. Rana wanted to high five him! 

Reluctantly raising both of his hands, she reached over and gave him a harsh but energetic high five resulting in a small wince coming out of his lips. Lunging over, she gave him a small side hug which sent his face into flames as he quickly turned around to hide it from others but it was obvious that Tanaka, Nishinoya and Hinata had caught it who chuckled while the orange-haired boy threw a comment about him blushing over Rana. Angered and thoroughly vexed, he moved over to grab the cheeky Hinata from the shirt to fling him over to the other side of the room but was stopped when he saw the beaming girl walk past them to Ennoshita, Kinoshita and Narita to ask them about their exams while thanking them together for helping her out in Modern Literature. 

Her smiles were more polite with the three boys along with Tsukishima and Yamaguchi who she also asked from regarding the exams. The blond boy was blunt so he answered with a 'fine' while Yamaguchi spoke more which made her happier seeing as he was interested in speaking to her. 

The setter could not believe that it had been more than a month since the girl had joined their club and managed to befriend every single person in the club. She was a little more informal with Tanaka and Nishinoya who she competed with over women, along with Sugawara and Hinata who she frequently hugged and spoke to most out of their reciprocating cheery personalities that fuelled her very own; but being close to them did not mean she was not close to the rest. All of them saw her as a teammate and a good friend due to her friendly and extroverted personality. 

Rana was also the type to indulge in physical affection in the spur of the moment which none of them minded due to her hyper personality that was guilty of doing things before thinking, hence all of them quickly got used to her hugs and affection especially Hinata who she happened to be closest to in all regards. The two shorties raced each other when they were alone and talked about volleyball in the odd speaking style that appeared incoherent to almost everyone except the two themselves.

It was a pleasant surprise that a girl had managed to adjust herself into a club full of boys without any big issues. 

Daichi, who had left the gymnasium while she was speaking to her fellow second-years about the English exam, returned with Shimizu and the blonde girl Yachi who timidly stood next to the captain at the entrance. He clapped his hands together loudly to cease the commotion. 

"Now that the exams have ended and the training camp is near, I would like to announce two things. For one, please welcome Yachi Hitoka officially as the team's manager." The girl smiled shyly when all of the players in the room clapped their hands with Shimizu handing her the black jacket labelled 'KARASUNO VOLLEYBALL TEAM' in white on the back. 

She was taken aback but happy when all of the players, with exception of Tsukishima, had turned their backs to her, pointing at the same label before shouting, "WELCOME TO THE KARASUNO VOLLEYBALL TEAM!" The girl felt her eyes go teary but went on to nod furiously and promising to do her best.

"The second announcement is..." He turned to Shimizu to speak for him. 

The manager turned her attention to Rana standing between Tanaka and Ennoshita with a smiling face on, "We've collected enough funds to create Rana's official jersey." She picked up the black and orange shirt in her hand and held it up, turning it around for her to see '13' printed boldly on it. 

Surprised, Rana was patted on the back by an ecstatic Tanaka to go forward and grab her 'treasure' as she slowly walked over to Shimizu and grabbed the shirt, eyeing it in wonder and eyes that were comically quivering out of the attack carried out by all her emotions at the same time. 

"Try it on, Rana! Try it!"  Hinata insisted loudly, jumping up and down to see his second-year friend with her official jersey that had been finally made. Nishinoya and Tanaka nodded furiously, asking her to wear it in front of them. 

Looking at Shimizu for permission, the girl smiled softly at her, granting it as the ace grinned widely, zipping off the black jacket and handing it over to her manager before sliding the shirt on top of the plain one.

Staring at the black and orange that officially represented her now, she could not help the small tear that escaped her eye. Turning around, she saw the white '13' written on her back which made her even more impassioned. Her colours were no longer white and maroon. She was officially a crow through and through!  

She turned to her Captain who gave her a thumbs up with a gentle smile but paused to see the teary state she was in, lips quivering and eyes on the verge to shed a river of tears; it was reminding him of the time he adorned himself in the same colours for the first time ever. It made him emotional to the point he was going to cry himself right there as he felt tears gather at the corner of his eyes. 

Rana diverted her attention to Tanaka, Nishinoya and Hinata with the same teary face which resulted in the second-years running over and tackling her in a large hug. The two had started to cry because they could not stand seeing her cry all alone as both clung to her sides and sobbed. Hinata, seeing all the hugs, ran over and joined in without becoming a crying mess like the other three. She was grabbing into all three while saying through sobs, "I'm not an eagle anymore, I'M A CROW THROUGH AND THROUGH, AND THE CROWS WILL BE GOING TO THE NATIONALS NO MATTER WHAT!" 

That resulted in everyone cheering loudly, fist-pumping the air before yelling out, "YEAH!" in agreement. 

Nishinoya, who found himself getting even more of a mess because of her motivating words clung onto the girl tighter before raising a fist and shouting, "TO THE UNSTOPPABLE BEAST OF KARASUNO!"

That day, Mizumoto Rana of Karasuno shed a piece of her past and adorned herself with colours that would bring a promising future in her way. The fallen crows will rise and the whole world will watch with their eyes wide open. 


	11. Chapter 11

The judgement day had dawned upon the group of five idiots who sat in their seats within their respective classes, Nishinoya chewing onto a piece of paper, Hinata and Kageyama glaring intimidatingly at the teacher; Tanaka had his buddha face on lock unlike Rana who was fidgeting with her fingers while her feet tapped on the ground furiously, her anxiety flaring to the point she felt like she would get an attack any moment then.

The other kids had their names announced, each handed their papers with some getting congratulated whilst some were asked to do better. After a while of hearing other's names getting called, Tanaka's was called out who was handed his set of papers. He skimmed through them before fisting pumping the air, screaming "YOSHA!" on top of his lungs which resulted in a stern scolding from the teacher.

He walked over to the seat next to her, showing his passing grades in each paper to the girl proudly which resulted in a smile that appeared over her face as she clasped his hand and congratulated him furiously. She was genuinely happy for her close friend who grinned at her and laughed along to her flurry of compliments.

"Mizumoto Rana!" the mention of her name suddenly stiffened her entire figure as the anxiety she had forgotten whilst speaking to Tanaka washed over again.

Sliding out of her seat, she slowly walked over to the result that would be the fruit of her month-long hard work in which she paid less heed to the club and more to academics, something she had never done before in life. Each one of her steps felt heavy to her as she found herself standing before her teacher who was looked at her a little sternly.

Without any word, the teacher handed her the sheets of paper which sent her into panic as she skimmed past each one of them. She was more than content seeing her scores in Modern Literature, English, Japanese Literature, Biology and Chemistry that were all in seventies and sixties but her heart dropped when she saw the '39' and '35' on Physics and Math.

The smile that was making way on her lips dropped dramatically as darkness cast over her eyes with her head hanging down. Her hands had begun to shake vigorously as they tightened into fists, crumpling the sides of the paper in them.

"You did surprisingly well despite your poor attitude in class, but math and physics need more work than anything."

She gave a stiff nod without looking back at the teacher as she walked over to her seat, pressing the disgraces down on the table before raising a hand and announcing she's going to the bathroom, running away from the class without even waiting for the teacher's answer. Tanaka did an attempt to reach out and stop her, but speed was always her greatest feat.

Whilst running, the girl felt tears pricking her eyes as she remembered the awful grade she scored in those particular subject despite putting most hard work in both with Sugawara. He was so patient with her, calmly explaining every single thing even when it needed to be explained a third time for her to get in. The boy worked so hard with her, she felt awful for letting him down like that. Rana remembered the smile he gave to her with hopeful eyes that she would score a passing grade in the two subjects. She let him down, she let him down.

When she could not run anymore, she skidded to a stop in the staircase and leaned her body against it with legs pressed tightly against her chest as she sobbed into them.

She was a failure from all spectres of life. She could never score well in math and physics even if she tried her hardest. Her attention was always elsewhere even after drinking four cups of coffee; it would always end up diverting to a pen's clicking or the ink that flowed from the pen as she wrote whatever. She couldn't help the way she was no matter how hard she tried. This is how she was ever since she was young. Inattentive. Impulsive. Hyperactive.

There could nothing be done about it.

Pressing her face between her legs more forcefully, she cried to the point those sobs had turned into loud hiccups as she felt her chest jolting up with each one of them. She was being such an embarrassment to the picture everyone had in their minds about her. A crying, messy Mizumoto who is held back by her past was not what anyone would like.

The last time she cried about something like this was two weeks ago and it was one day she would not forget for a good time in her life. 

Deciding the staircase was too much of an open and public place for her to cry at, she picked up her legs and made towards the bathroom where she slammed the door behind herself. She walked over to the mirror that hung over the bathroom wall above the sink where a humiliation stared back at her. She was miserable with her red eyes, wet face, runny nose and quivering lips pressed tightly against one another. She looked like a shame to herself. Comparing the smiling and cheery reflection she usually saw in the mirror to this embarrassment made her slam her fists against the sink, a louder sob coming out of her mouth as her eyes shut tightly to prevent any more tears going past her eyes.

"You're never enough," she spoke to herself as if reminding herself who and what she truly is, "you're never happy enough, you're never kind enough, you're not passionate enough, you're never careful enough, you're never intelligent enough, you're never laughing enough, you're not sad enough, you're not caring enough. YOU'RE NOT ENOUGH, YOU'RE NOT ENOUGH!" with that she began to furiously slam a first into the mirror, resulting in the glass breaking within two hits as a loud crack resounded throughout the bathroom, the shattered pieces of glasses collecting at the sink with some landing at her own feet.

Going back ever-so-slowly while looking at her reflection in the mirror with anger before muttering an 'I hate you' at herself, she sat back against a door from the bathroom stalls, continually sobbing with her arms wrapping around each other as she brought her legs close to herself, hiding her face within them in shame. What the girl was not noticing was her bleeding hand that had bloodied her arms and white shirt. The mental conflict she was caught in had made her forget how terrible she was faring physically.

-

Yachi and Mamiya from first-year were walking the hallway together, both girls discussing their straight 90's in every exam, smiling and giggling about the level of easy every paper with exception of Math had been as they clutched textbooks in their hands that they needed to take to Faculty Room per Math teacher's request.

The morning had started brightly for the two girls with their perfect grades and later Daichi telling them they would be leaving to Tokyo after school which made her rather excited and nervous at the same time. She would be meeting new people who would probably be more intimidating than the boys and girl on the volleyball, but she half hoped they would eventually seem less scary with time as it happened with her new team.

As they passed by the Girls Bathroom in the silent hallway, the two girls paused when they heard sobbing coming from there. They turned to each other, sharing a confused look before placing the large textbooks down to take a look inside.

As Yachi opened the door she could not help the scream that emanated from her at the sight. What welcomed her vision was a broken mirror whose pieces were sprawled over the floor along with some of them within a white sink. Drops of blood decorated the alabaster sink which trailed towards a curled-up figure that sat leaning against a stall's door with their head between their legs, with a hand avidly bleeding whilst the rest of her arms along with white shirt were stained red.

Mamiya pushed the girl aside and gaped at the sight, nearly screaming for herself but decided to collect herself for the sake of both girls as she inhaled deeply before turning to Yachi and commanding, "Yachi, help me with her." The quivering girl could only muster a shaky nod before both made way over to the girl removing her hands carefully as if not to wound her even more, the identity of the said person surprising both to the core.

"Mizumoto-san?!"

"Leave me alone, please," that's all the girl could muster and seeing her condition, they were surprised she could muster a coherent sentence at all.

Mamiya shook her head furiously before gently wrapping her bleeding arm around her shoulder whilst motioning Yachi to do the same with the uninjured one. Both lifted the girl who was on borderline between conscious and unconscious. She was a tad bit heavy for them to carry but they gave their best and began to carry the girl towards the infirmary.

It was a good thing that lunch break was far from happening so they easily carried her to the other end of the hall where the infirmary was without anyone seeing the condition of the girl.

Upon reaching their destination, Mamiya kicked the door to infirmary open surprising Yachi with her strength as both entered inside with Rana whose head still hung low out of shame.

The nurse at the infirmary was busy on her phone and about to shout at the person who kicked the door open so harshly, but paused and gasped aloud seeing the school's finest students carry Mizumoto Rana, all bloody and messed up from head to toe.

"Nurse, please help us with Mizumoto-senpai! She- she- we found her bleeding in the bathroom and the mirror was broken and there was so much blood- a-and she was cr-crying and there was broken glass everywhere a-and there was so much blood-" Yachi's shaky explanation was put to a pause by Mamiya who put a comforting hand over her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down because truthfully, the last thing she needed was the blonde getting a panic attack from what she saw.

The nurse nodded and asked the girls to put her on the bed. Giving stiff nods, they carried the girl over to the bed and put her on it carefully so that they hurt her no more than she already was.

"Thank you, girls, but if there's blood in the bathroom then you both should go and ask the janitor to clean it up before break begins and this situation gets bigger."

"H-hai!" With that said both girls ran outside of the infirmary and began to look around the school for the janitor who could clean that mess up. Once they had found him and directed him to the bathroom, they sighed in relief and stood by the door, watching him pick each shard of glass up carefully and throw it into the trash. They were frowning deeply, not bothering to speak to each other or collecting the guts to check up on the girl lying in the infirmary.

Even after the janitor had cleaned the bathroom up, removing the remainder of the mirror and calling for a replacement, the girls remained seated on either side of the door, hugging their legs with their minds anywhere but there at that moment. They were too traumatised by what they saw and who they saw committing such an action.

Both girls had different but slightly resembling pictures of the girl in their minds. Mamiya saw Mizumoto as a senior with the most confident aura and charismatic personality out of all the boys in the school including the ones in her class. Ever since she saw her enter through the doors of the school dressed as a boy with the oddly angled ponytail, she had found herself smitten with the girl. Her smiles, low chuckles and odd style of speaking did not help her situation at all as she found her small crush growing larger and larger with each passing day. The girl, on occasions, found herself peeking through the bottom window of the gymnasium to watch her play and ever since she saw her eagle-like flight to spike a ball past her class-fellow Tsukishima and Hinata's block, Mamiya had become her number one fan. She always pictured Rana to be the happiest person alive with her constant smiles and a wild personality. She never expected the girl to be suffering from mental health issues.

Yachi pictured the new ace, being revealed to her by Hinata, as someone very intimidating and frightening. She was wild and reckless, her attitude alongside speaking style resembling the street boys and her obsession with remixing music and Dj-ing in the future. The ace also had a very harsh playing style compared to others as her spikes were unimaginably dangerous with the force, velocity and quickness to them. Her receives were clumsy and sometimes on the wild side as she would accidentally pass the ball off anywhere but to a fellow teammate on her side. But whenever a game would be over, Mizumoto would be like a beaming child, sitting with the boys and laughing along as if her gender did not put a barrier between them and her. She never let her gender become an issue when playing or hanging out with the boys, rather they were open with her and even let her enter into the boys' locker room! She was so friendly but so intimidating for Yachi to approach that they never talked despite her visits to the gym back and forth, and becoming a manager. The last thing the little manager had in mind was that this particular intimidating girl had more hidden behind the frightening yet cheery appearance.

"YACHI-SAN!" Both girls were pulled out of their thoughts when they looked up to find a hoard of ten boys running over in their direction, causing the blonde to jump up to her feet.

"H-hai?" She asked timidly.

Tanaka looked up to the girl with evident worry in his eyes as he began to speak, "We haven't seen Rana since she left our class after the paper hand-outs and we looked everywhere to find her but she's nowhere to be found. Do you know where she is?"

Mamiya's eyes widened in shock when she heard the boy say that. Could it be that Rana tried to take her... life because of the exam results?

Yachi's timid expression turned depressed when she heard the boy ask that. It could have been that the result was behind her condition when they entered inside the bathroom.

She was going to tell them what had happened as she caught Sugawara and Daichi catch the sadness in her eyes easily, but then Mamiya jumped up and replied, "We haven't seen Mizumoto-san anywhere. Try looking harder."

Tanaka was taken a little back by the harshness in the short brunette's tone whose hair was peculiarly covering her shoulders, but he managed to nod before going into another direction followed by all the boys except Sugawara and Daichi who waved the rest of the boys off to go on their way while they would go on theirs to look elsewhere.

The Captain and Vice-Captain stood sternly before the girl who was shaking from the lie that was said. She wasn't the one who spoke the lie yet it was she who felt more frightened than the girl next to her.

"Yachi, you're hiding something aren't you?"

The sternness in Daichi's tone gave it away he was not fooling around. Even though he could be a little denser than others, he was still a Captain that noted when his players were hiding something from him or not. And right now, he was more than certain that their new manager was hiding something.

The young girl felt her hands begin to shake with eyes threatening to water as she remembered the state Rana was found in, but how could she tell the Captain that one of his players attempted to end their life today? How?

Perhaps it was a good thing Mamiya was there, who placed a firm hand over her shoulder and looked at the third-year in the eyes before replying, "We found Mizumoto-san inside the restroom with a broken mirror and...bleeding."

Both of their eyes widened in shock at that as a small gasp came from the mouth of Sugawara and a 'what' from Daichi. Sugawara grabbed the brunette from her sides impulsively whilst staring with flare and worry into the girl's eyes, "Where is she?! Tell me now!" Had Daichi not been so worried and appalled with what he learned, he would have been surprised at how panicked Sugawara looked.

"She's in the infirmary," the girl replied and the moment those words escaped her mouth, the duo had run off without saying anything.

As the boys ran away from the hearing range, Yachi turned to Mamiya and gave her a sad smile, "Mamiya-san. You're so strong, I never knew that." She was very impressed with how well she held herself amid everyone despite seeing everything similar to her. 

The brunette was more on the cool and silent side with everyone except her, though only speaking confidently and proudly when talking about Rana, a girl she realised was her idol and crush. Her enthusiasm aimed towards discussions regarding the wing-spiker always made Yachi smile in content, knowing how much she actually admired the wild and careless girl. She had been the first of the people to know about Mamiya's sexuality because of their closeness and was very happy to know the girl trusted her with something as significant as that given how closed off and cold she acted at times. They were best friends. If she wouldn't trust her with something like this, then who else would she trust?

"Yachi-san, you should start paying attention to things more." "Huh?" The blonde manager was taken out of her thoughts as she looked down and saw terribly the girl's hands were shaking, almost as if she were only minutes away from having a massive anxiety attack.

It was true that nobody was how they showed themselves to be.

-

The two boys burst through the doors of the infirmary causing the nurse to jump in her seat and bring her on the verge to scream at them for trying to kick an entire door down again from where she sat but paused when they appeared right with serious faces that later converted to one of awe when they saw who the woman was tending to on the bed.

Rana Mizumoto sat before them on the bed, with a bloodied shirt and arms stained crimson whilst the nurse stitched the flesh over her knuckles carefully. What surprised them the most was her lack of reaction to the needle penetrating her skin back and forth. She was completely elsewhere. She did not even notice them there.

"What happened to her?" Sugawara questioned melancholically. His heart broke at the sight of the girl who sat without any knowledge to where she was. The girl who smiled at him each time he would set the ball to her was just lifeless right now, not smiling, not crying, nothing. She was just..dead.

The nurse sighed and replied whilst cleaning the blood off her hand carefully, "She had small shards of glass stuck inside her hand that I had to pull out and well, she's torn the skin over her knuckles but since she turned out lucky enough to not tear her tendon, she should be fine within three days at top with extensive care." She took a little petroleum jelly that was put over the side table and spread it over her knuckles before wrapping it up in a bandage and getting up from her place.

Daichi walked over and sat on the bed next to her while maintaining distance for her current condition's comfort's sake. It pained him to think that had the situation been normal, he wouldn't be thinking of something like that and sitting however close he desired or not. Sugawara, on the other hand, sat on the same chair the nurse had been sitting on with the same worried and sad face.

She was still spaced out as they observed her looking farther ahead at nothing in particular, eyes hollow of any emotion. She looked so different from the Rana both of them saw smiling, talking and acting wildly. This person before them was nothing like the powerful short ace on their team.

"Rana-" Sugawara began but was cut off in the middle by her hoarse voice.

"I'm sorry for being such an embarrassment to you."

The boy gaped slightly at her words before shaking his head and questioning, "What are you talking about, Rana?"

Both watched tears gather in her void eyes as she replied with sadness laced in her tone, "You helped me so much during the exams, teaching me everything thoroughly, sacrificing your study hours to teach me everything, yet I shamed you with that score. I am disgusted with myself. I'm so sorry, Sugawara." Taking her uninjured hand, she pressed it to her eyes tightly without looking at either of them but it was more than evident she was crying behind that.

Sugawara picked himself from the chair and walked over the girl, carefully taking her hand off the eyes and held it between his before beginning almost angrily, "What are you talking about?! Do you realise how much improvement you showed over the month? You tried to cover the months-long semester work within four weeks and managed to score that despite not studying and on top of that you-!" he paused when he remembered he was going to reveal something that was a hushed secret between the two. Taking a deep breath, he began again, "My point is that you did wonderfully after all. You worked hard and I'm more than proud of you, Rana. So what you didn't pass the math and physics exams? I saw your efforts during our study sessions and I'm very proud of you after it all."

She still refused to look him or Daichi in the eyes even though he had her hand in his grasp and more tears were streaming down her face.

"I'm still an embarrassment. I just proved myself that I'm a weakling who can't deal with her emotions or loss. I just- I ruined that perfect image I had created and became before you both and the two girls. I just destroyed everything! I destroy everything! I don't destroy just other's lives but my own too!" From her erratic breathing rate, sudden sweating and the fact she was screaming sentences now, it dawned upon both that she was having a panic attack.

"W-why is my chest feeling s-so tight?" She abruptly asked, taking her wounded hand and pressing it to her chest, eyes going wide but still refusing to look at either boy in the eyes.

"Nurse!" Daichi called out as the girl began to hyperventilate. Sugawara felt her grip tighten as she attempted to use it as a support while pressing the wrapped hand to her chest. He felt his heart drop when there was no response from the nurse, meaning she had left the room for other things.

It was only them and a girl who was having a panic attack. Quite bemusing to the situation, neither one of them had an idea of ways to calm a person having a panic attack.

The two were confused and worried as Daichi quickly got up and told Sugawara, "I'm going to find the nurse, try to calm her down until then!" He only received a swift nod from the setter before running off in a hurry.

Sugawara took a deep breath and leaned down to meet eyes with the girl who was still looking anywhere but him, "Rana. Rana please, please look at me." Being the stubborn head, she continually looked down while her chest went up and down briskly as she tried to catch her breath.

When he realised she would not be complying out of fear and her other emotions, he took a hand over and grabbed her chin to make her look directly into his eyes. It was at his bold move that she finally met her coloured eyes with his warm hazel ones.

"Try to take deep breaths in and out with me, okay?" She could only muster a nod to which Sugawara took a deep breath in a demonstration which she copied immediately. He exhaled deeply that she followed. They repeated this rhythm back and forth while looking into each other's eyes which helped calm her down a little, but it didn't help as much as he thought it would because her chest was still moving too quickly for any of their likings.

"Hug her, son." He heard an unfamiliar deep voice speak behind him. Turning around, he realised who it was. Rana's father had arrived! But once again, this situation was no time for them to greet each other.

Giving him a strong nod, he removed his hand from her chin and moved forward to embrace the girl in a gentle hug as he wrapped his free hand around her back whilst the other remained clasping onto her tightly. Her face was pressed into Sugawara's shirt who began to rub soothing circles into her back.

"I-I'm sorry, Sugawara," she sobbed against his chest. She took her wounded hand and wrapped it around the boy's torso who caught off guard by the move for a second, only sighed deeply and brought her closer to himself.

"Stop being sorry. You'll be okay, Rana. I am here for you, I will be here for you. None of us finds you embarrassing or a shame. Stop thinking such things. I am here," his soothing words had resulted in her breathing rate calming down as he felt her breathe normally against him without letting him go. She wanted to stay in that moment longer. He provided her with a sense of comfort that made her feel calm and relaxed.

After a few minutes of staying so near to him, she pulled back and diverted her gaze downwards, noticing her father, the nurse and Daichi, all to be staring at the duo.

The boy pulled away and stood right next to Daichi while her father came forward to sit next to her on the bed and initiating in a scolding, "This is EXACTLY what happens when you go months without taking your medication for ADHD taking you mummy and daddy's words for nothing because ho ho ho, you feel strong and happy after making a return to volleyball! You do realise you went back to the same sport that destroyed you mentally back in Junior High?" SMACK! " Sugawara, Daichi and the nurse looked horrified seeing her father land a karate chop right over her head which resulted in an 'OW!' coming from her mouth, "You're an idiot, idiot my little Ra-chan and for that, I reward with-" SMACK! "-that."

A dead-pan expression cast over her face as she stared at her dad irritatingly before replying, "If I'm an idiot then you're a bigger one than me because mom is certainly anything but an idiot." At those words, her father paused and pressed a thoughtful hand to his chin, nodding slowly before looking back at her and snapping a finger, raising the index as if to say she was right.

"Correct! I guess you all have the idiot genes from me. Anyways-" he dug a hand into his pocket before pulling out a bottle of pills with a label that read her name. Taking her uninjured hand into his, he popped the cap of the bottle open with his thumb before tossing a pill into her hand, closing it immediately. He asked for the nurse to give him a glass of water which she quickly did, still unable to overcome the shock she and the two third-years were in.

"Take the pill like a good little child," nodding she tossed the white small rod-looking thing into her mouth before the man handed over the glass which she drank eagerly from after the level of dehydration she was suffering from the three hours or so. Once she had finished taking every drop from it did the girl hand it over to her dad who gave it to the nurse wordlessly.

The man carefully took in the poor condition his daughter was in before exhaling in sadness. What was so awful about it all is that he had become accustomed to all this a long time ago; he was rather surprised to see his daughter enter the house so happily at night from her volleyball club practices and proceed to explain how they played, how her spikes were still amazing, that she was improving her receiving more than ever. Whilst he kept up his happy appearance to keep her motivated and happy, at the back of his mind he could not bring himself to be happy seeing his daughter act exactly as she did six years ago when she was twelve and had joined Shiratorizawa Junior Girl's Volleyball Team.

The last thing he wanted her to fall into the pits of darkness as she did from what happened at her last year with that club.

Placing a hand on the back of her neck, he brought her head close as the two crashed foreheads like football players on a pitch before saying, "You're my champ girl, okay? Don't pressurise yourself over something like grades when we know there is a why you can't do it there. Just..concentrate on yourself and yourself only, okay?" Taking his hand, he wrapped them tightly around his daughter, bringing her close to his chest while rubbing her back in support. He pressed a chaste kiss on the top of her head before whispering, "I love you so much, my little champ. Your mother loves you, your brother loves, the kiddos love you and so do your teammates. Stop beating yourself up over and over."

Rana nodded against his chest, unable to muster something out of fear she might end up crying before everyone all over again. She was not afraid of crying in front of her father, who was a usual witness to it in the past along with her older brother and mother. The three were her stones of comfort no matter how terrible she would be faring mentally.

He pulled away and smiled at his daughter who returned the foolish smile as he leaned down and pressed a kiss on her forehead, "I have to go back to work now, sweety. Don't pressurise yourself and be the idiot you are." Jumping off the bed, he waved a dramatic hand at his daughter who returned it just as dramatically. Both pretended to wipe fake tears as they bid goodbyes to each other.

He walked past the curtain that veiled the bed she laid in, disappearing from the vision of the girl. As he did, his aura completely changed from the comical one to a grave one; the man motioned the nurse to occupy the girl while ushering Daichi and Sugawara to follow him. The boys gulped before following him slowly.

Mister Mizumoto and the two boys walked outside of the infirmary, shutting the door behind themselves so that the girl would not hear the discussion he intended to have with them.

The two stood straight before the tall man, who leaned his towering figure against the door frame before closing his eyes for a moment, rubbing his temple whilst inhaling and exhaling deeply in an attempt to forget the condition he saw his sweet daughter in, crying and mentally drained.

Daichi and Sugawara were a little intimidated by the man who stood a good six feet and four inches, capable of towering over most men in Japan. He was dressed in a grey suit and tie which gave him a very posh appearance, something that was surprising to Sugawara who had met her father looking very different to how he was looking right now. His hair was a wavy dark brown much like his daughter that was lustrous and quite voluminous, sticking out in every direction due to the waves. Face, an almost perfectly symmetrical shape, with a strong jawline that aided his masculine appearance; his eyes were dark brown, unlike his daughter's heterochromatic eyes. He was broad in the shoulders, implying he was muscular underneath all the suit and tie.

He opened his eyes and turned to the two boys who straightened their postures even more...if that was possible which caused a small chuckle coming out of his lips, "Calm down, sons. Stop acting so formal with me; I'm not one for all that nonsense. I know Sugawara Koushi, the Vice-Captain of Karasuno Volleyball team, but can you introduce yourself to me, son?" He asked, pointing at Daichi who brought a hand forward to shake the older man's.

"I'm Daichi Sawamura, Captain of the Volleyball team, sir!" He introduced himself respectfully which made the man smile. Despite him telling the boy to drop formalities, he still stuck to them which meant he was raised well by his father and mother.

"Hello, Daichi and Sugawara. As you may know by now, I'm Rana's father but my name is Ikuya Mizumoto. It's nice to meet you two," the last sentence was reciprocated by both boys, making the man chuckle once again. They were very respectful boys wich gave a little ease to his chest that maybe his daughter was in the right hands when he was not around for her to take care.

The appearance on his became grim abruptly as he looked at the two boys for a second before staring down at his shoes, "I'm glad that I'll be getting to talk about my daughter's issue to the captains of the team instead of rest; that would make me feel very guilty and like an awful father. Hell, this is making me feel awful but it can't be helped as you two bore witness to what happened.

"Daichi and Sugawara," the man called out which resulted in them looking intently at the man whose eyes continued looking at his shoes, "what you saw today...it was one of the episodes of her having a mental breakdown. She uh, suffers -God, I hate telling this to others- from ADHD."

"What's that?" Daichi asked, confused at the term which he said back in the infirmary room earlier too.

Sugawara gave him a momentary dead-panned look, answering immediately, "It's Attention Deficit Hyper Activity Disorder."

Both turned to Mister Mizumoto who nodded in approval, "Correct. She was diagnosed with it during her last year of junior high. It seemed she always had it but none of us ever noticed it, including my wife and myself. We always thought she never took an interest in studies to score well because her life always revolved more around sports due to her older brother." He paused for a second, his voice going quiet all of a sudden, "During last year of Junior High when she was playing in Fall Regionals against Niiyama, something..happened which was not her mistake at all but after that, she has not been very much herself. We had to make her go through extensive therapy and take her out of Japan for a little while so that she can collect herself and forget. But it did not work, nothing did.

"It was recently that Rana became wild, carefree and this person she is now. Everyone in the family decided to go along with it because we believe she's trying to be a different person from what she once was. And well, her mental breakdowns have become frequent. We were pleasantly surprised that she didn't have one in the past month because she's been so occupied with the team and enjoying herself despite the fact it was this sport that led to her downfall," the man lifted his head to look at the two surprised boys, smiling as he reminisced on the moments she came from late-night practices and told him about what happened during each practice, "She told me everything from how Sugawara and another boy named Kageyama were great at setting balls for her to spike, how her Captain Daichi scolded her for not receiving right, how Hinata, Nishinoya and Tanaka were fun to speak to, how she enjoyed being friends with everyone. She told me everything and I always paid all attention to her."

He stopped speaking as he lifted his figure off the door-frame, digging both hands into his pockets before giving them a loop-sided grin, "The point of this speech was that even though we were told by three different therapists not to let her indulge in volleyball ever again due to possible triggering of past memories that could result in breakdowns, we cannot bring ourselves to stop her from playing. Volleyball makes her happy. You guys make her happy. None of us has the right to stand between her and what genuinely makes her feel happy because we all want that. Just...take care of her for us. I, her mother and Sora cannot always be there for her, so please try taking care of her. She's very tough and strong, but she's still a human like every one of us."

After that, he simply bid goodbyes to both boys before walking away to speak to the Principal, leaving them aghast from all the information he just gave them.

The two boys stood in the hallway for a good five minutes, their minds going over everything the man told him. They could not bring themselves to believe what they came to know about the wild and 'crazy' Rana Mizumoto, the ace with superhuman strength, the beast of Shira- Karasuno. 

 

Perhaps it was true that nothing was ever as it seemed. 

 

"Oi, what are you two doing standing like that?" Both jumped at the same time, turning around to find Rana leaning casually against the doorframe with a quirked eyebrow and lips pulled in a pout.

"Rana-" Sugawara began but was cut off by the girl raising her wounded hand with eyes closed as she interrupted what he planned to say.

"Yeah yeah, it was bad of me to pull that but I guess I cannot control my anger. Don't you two dare worry about me-" she leaned away from the door, raising her uninjured hand to point her index and middle finger at their respectively with narrowed eyes, "-okay? We need to concentrate on the training camp we'll be going to tomorrow and the nationals! I'm smuggling myself into Tokyo so don't worry about me being left behind" Her blue eye gave an evil shine as a sinister grin plastered over her face.

The Captain's eye twitched in annoyance at her 'smuggling' herself concept as he walked over to her before taking a hand pressing it right over her head, "Oi, you're not smuggling yourself anywhere. We're taking you to Tokyo no matter what once you give your supplementary exams."

"About that.." she snuck a hand behind her neck, rubbing it embarrassingly, "I don't think I'm giving those." Her tongue stuck out from the corner of her mouth as she looked at the ground embarrassingly.

"Huh? Why?" Both boys asked at the same time, Daichi still pressing his hand on her head.

"Because I wounded the same hand I write with, HAHA!"

"Seriously, Rana?"

"Gomen, gomen- HAHA!"

She was definitely back to being the same Rana they knew, completely ignoring and playing light of what happened just minutes ago.


	12. Chapter 12

The morning sun had risen in the blue sky, painting it orange and yellow hues almost beautifully as Rana walked over to the school with her bags hanging from both shoulders lazily, eyes as droopy as ever.

She had stayed up talking to her brother staying in Australia about volleyball, her new team and the training which took a while because she had not told him about her returning to volleyball earlier. It resulted in him shouting at her which later led to a train of apologies and a promise to listen to her better. And so the two spent the whole night talking until her brother told her to head to bed as sleep was significant to 'growing volleyball players'. It was safe to say he was the one who had to end the call when she began to curse him and eight generations of his family out which caused her mother to wake up and shout at her for cursing her family generations out.

With a loud yawn escaping her mouth, she stepped on the school grounds and walked over to the gymnasium, her hands behind her head as her eyes began to look around for any signs of other players but there were none. Shaking her head, she jumped onto the concrete pavement that led to the gymnasium where she decided to wait until the boys arrived.

As she neared the doors of the gymnasium her ears were met with the sound of shoes squeaking against the wooden floor followed by back and forth thumps of the volleyball. Who could be playing at such an early hour, she wondered, before fastening her pace towards the gymnasium to see who played.

Stepping into the place, she smiled when her eyes came across Hinata and Kageyama who were playing with one another.

"Yo, boys!" She waved her wrapped hand at them. The two jumped when they noticed a sleepy but smiling Rana Mizumoto greeting them at the door with two huge bags hanging off her shoulders.

Their surprise at her appearance made the girl wonder if playing early on in the morning was part of their routine or nay. She could only ponder as they approached her sadly, acknowledging well they could not go with her or the rest of the team.

"Ohayo, Rana." both boys muttered simultaneously, their gaze averting downwards in shame and sadness.

The girl rolled her eyes at their behaviour before walking over placing one hand over each boy's head before ruffling their hair messily, her wounded hand was on top of Kageyama's head whilst the other was on Hinata's as they continued to mess with them while the boys tried to pry her off but were only met with her feminine laughter. Taking her hands off their heads and placing them around their shoulders, she brought both of them closer to her in a side hug, setting their faces aflame.

"Stop worrying about your grades okay? You'll still be going to Tokyo, I promise you that. If Tanaka's sister does not agree to it, a private jet will take both of you to Tokyo."

Both boys froze at that before slowly turning their heads at her, "P-private j-j-jet?"

They got a swift nod as she removed her hand from Hinata's shoulder, pulling out her phone from pocket and sliding it open, going immediately on contacts where she pointed at a name that read 'Jet Dudio!' with a plane emoji next to it, "Dad gave me his number over a while ago since he became an employee under him. So I can phone him whenever and ask him to take me to any part in the world and he would without questioning my order!"

The setter and decoy gaped at her before speaking in perfect sync, "S-Sugoi!" They only got loud laughter from her as she raised both hands to mess with their hair again followed by both trying to pry her off again.

Kageyama stopped when he grabbed her arm between his as he lowered it down to see the thorough bandage wrapped securely around her four knuckles. Whilst she played with a whining Hinata, he could not help himself but ask. "What happened to your hand?"

The orange-haired boy stopped in realisation and began, "Kageyama is right! What happened to your hand and where were you throughout the day and practice?! Tanaka couldn't stop looking for you."

Oh, that's right. None of them knows what happened to her. After another look was conducted by the nurse when the white bandage was noticed turning crimson by Sugawara, she was taken home by her father who spoke to the Principal about her supplementary exams which were decided to be taken in summers rather than now, granting her the permission to go with the boys on the bus.

She did not meet with any of the boys after that nor did she attend practice that day.

Chuckling whilst wrapping her uninjured hand around her neck she began to lie, "Oh, I just got into an accident so dad took me home!" It wasn't a lie because she had lost a sense of reality when she punched the mirror so recklessly. She only realised the gravity of what she had done when she sat alone in her room, examining the wound, playing with the bandages until it began to hurt.

Funnily Rana felt better than ever now. There were no longing feelings of depression, anxiety or hatred looming within her chest and head. She was genuinely happy and pumped despite all that had happened. Maybe what she did that day...was for the better and a good stress reliever like it had always been.

The conversation between the boys and her came to a halt when they heard loud bustling taking place outside. Knowing it was the boys, she smiled brightly before locking an arm with Kageyama and clasping Hinata's arm tightly, walking out with boys next to her who were blushing madly.

It had been almost two months since the girl had joined the team and since then, she had managed to make everyone used to her impulsive physical contact with the exception of Tsukishima. Due to her ADHD, she lacked control over her behaviour when she was hyper or 'in the very moment', so it was no shock she went around pulling Ennoshita, Kinoshita, Narita, Tanaka, Nishinoya and the other boys into large hugs while laughing in victory. 

Quite to Sugawara and Daichi's amusement, the only two boys who knew of her condition, everyone had quickly gotten used to her physically touchy nature and on occasion, even returned them with enthusiasm that resembled her very own. However, Kageyama was one of the only two boys who was still very red at her pulling him into a hug along with Hinata who happened to blow a fuse every once in a while, too. 

Whilst dragging the two outside with her as she jumped out of the door to wave her joined hand with Hinata at the group of boys dressed in black tracksuits. A few of them returned the wave whilst some did not due to the strong sleep deprivation they were feeling in that very moment. Tanaka was the first of all the boys to approach her, wondering where she was last night which resulted in her repeating the same lie she told the first years, pointing at her hand that Nishinoya ran to examine as if he were a doctor when he was anything but.

The group of five stood together, talking about things while Tanaka reminded the first-years about their saviour until the grey bus arrived alongside Ukai and Takeda, ordering everyone to come aboard to which they obliged willingly.

The ride to Tokyo was a rather silent one as they all slept soundly with the exception of Tanaka, Nishinoya and Rana who were as energetic as ever, jumping up and down, pointing at random herds of sheep and calling them 'cool', playing odd music for the other to listen and discuss how things would be in the camp.

Their bus came to a halt, indicating they had arrived at their destination as Rana grabbed all her bags and rushed outside despite Daichi shouting at her not to run too fast when he saw how she nearly slipped a foot down the stairs. Taking a deep breath, she looked around to catch the sight of Tokyo after months of not being there. It felt nice to be back. Her eyes stared widely at the clear blue sky staring back at her, blue and free of any grey-ness that would have been the result of pollution emitting nearby. The sight of elongated dancing clouds made her feel comfortable and untroubled, giving her a feeling that good times were certainly ahead.

"YO YO, TOKYO WE HERE AND WE KILLING THIS TRAINING CAMP!" She shouted loudly on top of her lungs, jumping up and down around the bus like a grass-hopper until Daichi came out after her, smacking her straight on the head for being too loud. 

"Itai, itai," she winched, rubbing the top of her head furiously while staring at a glaring Daichi with a small pout on her lips. He felt no remorse over his actions, but she was angry for he said nothing to Tanaka and Nishinoya who were being as loud as her. They were pushing the ever-sleepy Yamaguchi and Tsukishima towards Nekoma school building where they were all headed towards to relax a little before engaging in matches.

She and Daichi walked side by side towards the approaching Captain of Nekoma who could not be seen from the distance due to the darkness he was shrouded in from the tunnel he was walking in next to another person. Dragging her legs with all the weight on her body from the bags, she suddenly halted in her steps mechanically when the figure of Nekoma's captain unveiled from the shadows of the place, shocking her to the core. 

"T-Tetsurou," she led out with eyes as wide as saucers, pointing an accusing finger at the boy who also stopped when he saw the girl with Sawamura Daichi. His eyes grew in surprise for a mere moment that was caught by Rana only before turning into the signature half-lidded ones as a loop-sided smirk made way on his lips; he would recognise those green and blue heterochromatic eyes anywhere in the world. 

"Oi, Rana," he greeted the girl as cooly as he could at that moment. His lips curling up like that had only caused her to gulp in ground-breaking fear before turning her frozen figure on her heel slowly, placing her bags gently down and making a run in the opposite direction. 

Her running away with the speed of lightning irritated Kuroo to the core whose eyes widened for a second once again as he began shouting loudly, "OI, where are you running?! COME BACK HERE!" before taking off after her speeding figure. 

"WAAAH, A PREDATOR IS TRYING TO KILL ME! HELP! SOS!"

Daichi and Kai were left confused at the cat and mouse chase that initiated between the two. They ran all around the campus with Kuroo cursing her magnificent speed and Rana cursing right back at him for chasing after her at all. The rest of the team which had gotten off the bus was greeted by an embarrassed Kai who told them to freshen up and visit their gymnasium once they're done so whilst their eyes were fixated on the Nekoma Captain comically chasing a comically crying Rana whose mouth was open in dramatic wails coming out her mouth in plea while the boy was scowling annoyingly at her. If Daichi had not told them they probably knew each other, they all would have assumed that whatever happened was an act of seer harassment.

After a while of constant chasing, Kuroo stopped to catch his breath. The tall boy was crouched down, his palms pressed against his knees as he loudly breathed in and out in an attempt to make up for all the oxygen he lost during the wild goose chase between the two; Rana came to a halt too but without all the panting and sweat as she looked down at his bowing figure in victory.

"Four years later and you can't catch me even if your life is depended upon it!" She boasted proudly with her arms crossed over her chest before throwing her head back and giving a loud laugh into the air. To the spectators, the situation had reversed as now it was Kuroo who was appeared to have been harassed and not her. She looked..too happy to have been harried.

"Well, I can't help it," he breathed out before standing up straight with a loop-sided grin plastering over his handsome features all over again, acting as if he weren't panting like a dog seconds ago, "you still run like a cheetah even after all these damn years," he opened his arms to the girl and beckoned towards him. "Come on now, hug me."

She pouted and turned her back to him while looking back at him from the corner of her eye, "I'm not sure if I want to hug your sweaty and smelly ass."

The boy gave a shrug, "Alright then, I'll hug you." he lunged and grabbed the girl in a tight hug from the back, causing her to squirm in his tight grasp as she tried to protest to let her go but he dared not to and rather, brought her even closer to him.

"I missed you, baka," he whispered into her ear upon loosening the hug, his eyes shut in an attempt to experience the girl in his arms better. His words had stilled her for a moment, unable to grasp the guy being soft towards her for the first time in so long. He had always been a cheeky bastard but rarely the person he's being right now. How he whispered those words to her sent a shiver down her spine unconsciously that he felt but said nothing about; the last thing he wanted to do was ruin this rare moment that they were sharing at that moment.

"I missed you too, Tetsurou," she turned around whilst his arms were wrapped around her shoulders, letting her very own envelop around the boy's waist, completing the previously clumsy hug. Both of them had their eyes shut with soft smiles displayed over their faces, raising different reactions from the spectators.

Yachi was swooning over the two whilst gripping onto Shimizu, finding the intimidating girl not only less frightening but really pretty too with a gentle smile that radiated contentedness spread over her lips. Rana and the Captain of Nekoma team looked exactly like hero and heroine of shoujo manga, embracing each other in the middle of the ground before the massive school, not paying any attention to who or who may not be watching.

Daichi and Kai were still as confused as ever, watching the two act like reuniting lovers from another life. Ennoshita, Kinoshita, Narita alongside Tsukishima and Yamaguchi had requested their resting place and left a while ago, not interested in the whole ordeal. Asahi, on the other hand, felt awkward seeing the scene unfold so quickly and felt as if he should not be seeing something as private as this.

Tanaka and Nishinoya were a whole another story. The two were glaring daggers at the Nekoma Captain who was so much closer to their ace than they were! She hugged her own teammates too, yes, but never with this passion..and love! Their overprotectiveness towards the girl was going on haywire as they only wanted to snatch her from the cat and protect her at all costs.

Sugawara felt odd. He did not know what he should be thinking of this. The girl was hugged so abruptly by the Captain and she did not even shout at him for intruding her personal space; rather she just hugged him back so emotionally it appeared they were girlfriend and boyfriend. The setter did not know what to think of it at all, but he could not deny the small ache he felt in his heart.

"Oi, Daichi-san" Tanaka uttered to the Captain who turned to the wing-spiker with a 'hmm?', "You might think I'm weird for saying this but I never really considered or accepted Rana as a girl in my heart until now."

"Me neither, Daichi-san" Noya spoke in agreement, still looking at the duo which had pulled away but still held onto each other through their hands pressed against the other's shoulder or upper arm, talking about things that were inaudible to them due to the distance they stood at.

The Captain only sighed before giving a slight nod in agreement, "I guess we never saw her as such since she always acted more like a boy than girl among us. She never wanted gender to separate her from us, so she somehow managed to make us feel less bothered with it and entirely forget that she is a girl. Only a moment like this could make us feel that Rana is, in fact, a girl." And he was right; she looked more feminine than ever. She was smiling like one, laughing like one and talking like a gentle one from what they could capture.

"So we were being hugged by a girl this entire time," the two second-years found their faces growing hot when they remembered each time the girl hugged them tightly. They were having physical contact with a girl and they did not realise it until now!

"Daichi, is she a manager too?" Kai piped in, turning over to the Captain who gave him a polite smile before shaking his head and revealing her as the new ace of the team.

"Nani? A girl on a boys team?"

Daichi went on to explain how the Girls' Volleyball Club was disbanded on the joint agreement of Student Council and the Principal, how the girl was a new transfer and needed to join a club, how she proved herself worthy of the team and made it in as an ace. Kai was impressed but still taken aback to know a boys club actually accepted a girl in even though she could prove as a liability to the team because, in the end, she was still a girl.

Everyone stopped speaking when they saw Kuroo and Mizumoto approach them, both having large smiles displayed over their faces. They even walked very close to the other, hands brushing back and forth but nobody said anything.

She walked over to Nishinoya and Tanaka who bared their fangs at the confused Nekoma Captain before getting smacked by Daichi who told them to behave.

"Daichi, why are there a few people missing?" The two who acted all smitten with each other were pretending as if nothing had happened with Rana running off to freshen up followed by Nishinoya whilst Kuroo inquired regarding the freak duo. The defence specialist smiled and explained they were busy giving supplementary exams.

Their conversation was cut short when Yamamoto fell to his knees before Yachi and Shimizu, screaming how Karasuno has not one but two managers with one being pretty and the other cute. Tanaka appeared before the boy, reminding him about their high school's greatness with light emitting everywhere from his figure.

Once the team had freshened up, they were guided by Kuroo towards the gymnasium which comprised of three teams beside Nekoma itself. All along the way, Rana walked next to the Captain discussing things back and forth with Tetsurou wearing his iconic grin and the girl smiling brightly at him, telling him random things. Both were evidently close to each other but no one could collect guts to ask them what their relationship was. They felt as if they weren't close enough to ask her a question as personal as that. 

Opening the door to gymnasium, Rana was greeted by the smell of polished wood and sweat as her eyes landed on many, MANY people inside the very gigantic wood-coloured place. Some were wearing yellow jerseys, some pink whilst some turquoise. They were all playing together, serving, tossing, setting, spiking, passing and receiving. 

This was her paradise.

"By the way," Kuroo's voice pulled the girl out of her dream with his voice making her turn to him with a quirked eyebrow, "he's here."

She was confused for a second, trying to think whatever he meant by that but when her ears were greeted by a loud "YEAAAH!" after the fulminating sound of a spike spreads throughout the room, she knew who he was talking about. Her eyes went from confused to glittering with unexplainable happiness as she raised both hands to cup her mouth and before Kuroo could stop her from doing something embarrassing, she screamed on top of her lungs,

"KOUUU!!"

Everyone in the room stopped and turned at her, confused and surprised at the gesture. Some were also irritated because their concentration had been ruined by her screaming but spoke not of it seeing her wear the black tracksuit that they connected straight to Karasuno who stood behind the girl, some frightened whilst some irritated and thoroughly embarrassed with everyone's eyes on them.

The head of a certain owl popped out curiously with a comical face but when yellow owl-like eyes met her blue-green heterochromatic ones, his face contorted into one of pure happiness followed by a loud, "HEY, HEY, HEY!" He turned on his feet to run towards her with the widest grin plastered over his face.

"YO, YO, YO!" his greeting was returned loudly by the girl who stepped outside of the gymnasium immediately past her players, confusing them even more.

Bokuto walked past everyone who stood at the entrance and ran straight at the smiling girl standing outside of the spotlight before tackling her in a massive hug. The force of his hug was so strong, it actually led to the duo falling straight to the ground with a loud 'oomph!'

However, their fall affected not one of them as they both laughed at the impact before hugging the other even tightly despite Bokuto being on top of the girl. His arms were tightly wrapped around her upper back which saved her skull from cracking open from the fall, whilst hers were around his neck, pulling his face into her neck.

After a good minute of just physical affection, Bokuto pulled away and placed his hands on either side of her head, propping himself above her, "I missed you so much." He meant each and every word there which brought a soft smile over her lips.

"I missed you, even more, Kou" "-OOMF!" The girl had concealed her arms around his neck and brought him down on her again which caused both of them to start laughing loudly after a while. 

Meanwhile, her team which had come witness to what took place stood back in shock. Yachi was quivering from the amount of affection she had shown not one boy but two under the span of twelve hours. She took the entire scenarios for the plot of shoujo manga where two boys are in love with one girl and fighting for her affection, but with the other boy's unfazed facial expression to the two laying on top of one another, maybe things weren't like that.

Daichi raised an eyebrow at her behaviour but said nothing, knowing talk would have no impact on the overly-eccentric wing-spiker that laid underneath a Fukurodani player like that. So all he did was walk away inside the gym followed by the rest of the team which was blushing wildly at their intimate position.

"You know I always hated how you two did such embarrassing things without caring about who saw you and who didn't," Kuroo sighed, rubbing his temples tentatively with his eyes closed as he leaned against the door-frame of the gym, arms crossed.

The two pulled away and stood upright with large toothy grins spread over their faces. Rana had never been this happy seeing faces from her past in the same place as her, God she was happy! Like really, really ecstatic.

"Well that's exactly how you're supposed to greet your best friend who you haven't seen in almost four years, Kuroo," Bokuto replied, his arms crossed against his chest with pride. The satisfaction in his heart swelled, even more, when he saw the agreeing nod from Rana to his statement.

The two boys turned back to the bubbly girl and paused for a moment, taking in her appearance. From her Junior High year, she had changed A LOT. She looked like a proper girl with her medium length hair tied in an erected ponytail, her face owning a much more feminine aura along with her smile. Ever her physical appearance had become more womanly with her curvy hips and chest, not that either felt any sort of attraction towards her of course, haha!

However, Bokuto was unsettled by what Kuroo saw earlier too. Her right hand's knuckles were wrapped in a white bandage tightly, constraining her to do minimal movements with it.

"Oi, what happened to your hand?" Bokuto asked in worry, walking over to the girl and picking her hand, placing it between his rather large and calloused ones in an attempt to examine it carefully.

She chuckled nervously before replying, "I, uh- I-" But she was cut off by Kuroo almost immediately, knowing she would not answer either of the two boys with her entire honesty.

"You did something stupid again when after getting angry, didn't you?" He knew her too well, Rana had thought to herself in much displeasure. She hated it, yet she could do little about it all.

Her head hung but both boys saw that stiff nod she mustered in response.

The trio fell in deafening silence because they knew about her issue more than anyone. Prior to her departure from their lives, she had told them everything about her mental illness. They had witnessed what took place in the finals against Niiyama, they saw every single moment. Hence, it was hard for her to hide whatever was happening with her.

"Oi," she lifted her head at Bokuto who was smiling widely at her, "stop worrying your head over stupid things. Now, come and watch me, the greatest ace in Japan, play!"

"That's my title," she pointed at herself with narrowed eyes.

"Nope, that's mine. You're the Beast of Miyagi," he replied with a shake of his head in disproval.

"I'm the Beast of Karasuno and best ace in Japan."

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I am."

"No, you're not."

"Yes."

"No."

"Ja."

"Nein."

"Si."

"Noh."

"Yada."

"Nada."

"WOULD YOU TWO SHUT UP?! BOTH OF YOU ARE THE BEST ACES IN JAPAN, ONE FROM MEN AND THE OTHER FROM WOMEN. NOW SHUT UP AND GO INSIDE."

The arguing duo jumped and clung onto each other in dramatic fear seeing Kuroo burst at them. They nodded slowly before entering inside the gym followed by an irritated Tetsurou who was glaring daggers into their backs.

Bokuto stopped and turned to the girl with a smile before speaking, "I'm going to go over and play with my boys since I'm their captain you know." He pointed at a group of vexed players who were glaring hotly at their eccentric Captain. Rana alone felt sweaty from the dirty looks they were throwing at the owl who ran off mid practice to her but it still did not stop her from retorting a response at the boy.

"And? I became a Captain of Shiratorizawa girls in my first-year of Junior High. What's so special about it?"

"HAHA, and what are you now, a manager while I'M A CAPTAIN?!"

"Who said I'm a manager?"

At those words, Kuroo and Bokuto both tilted their heads in confusion because if she weren't a manager then what was she?

"Then what are you, assistant coach?" Kuroo piped in.

"Nope. I'm the new ace of the Karasuno Volleyball Team."

"NANI?!"


	13. Chapter 13

"C-coach U-Ukai, " Takeda-sensei stuttered out, "I-I'm n-not sure h-how w-we're supposed to d-deal with R-Rana on t-the b-"

"BLOODY HELL, I COULD HAVE RECEIVED THAT TOO AND I'M A GODDAMN ASS IN RECEIVING!"

"Sensei," the Coach replied with the most grim of all voices, "I don't know how to deal with her either. Her sitting on the bench because of her injury and taking her anger out on others is the scariest thing I have come to witness in all twenty-six years of my life." 

"COME ON, TANAKA THE COW I COMPARED YOU WITH ON THE WAY COULD SPIKE BETTER THAN YOU!" 

The players on the court gulped in fear alongside the manager and coach seeing their new ace burn in fury at the poor score they had lost to one of the teams within the grounds. They all knew she was a former Captain, but God is this how she had been with her entire team? It was no wonder they made sure to become the Defending Champions of Regional trophy for three years straight. Right now, she was standing with Sugawara and the rest, red, shaking from the rage at her team that was continuously losing matches back and forth to the teams in the training camp. Their worst loss had been to Fukurodani who won by 16-25 and that angered her the most because Bokuto was on it, meaning he would come at her and playfully tease her the next two days straight. 

"That's it, fuck this injury I'm playing. I'm subbing myself in," she turned around to walk over to the resting room to change into her jersey but was halted by a worried Sugawara who grabbed her shoulders to stop her. 

"Stop, Rana. You should rest your injury instead of making it worse." The boy sighed. She really was temperamental and the worst of its kind. 

The girl turned to Sugawara and grabbed him from his shoulder, reciprocating his very actions with flames of fury dancing in her eyes, "But can't you see Sugawara?" She made the boy stare into her blue-green eyes that had a flame of passion, determination and thirst for win, "I cannot stand losses. I can never stand losses and I can't stand them when I'm not on the team." She was hungry for victories, for playtime, for volleyball and that one wound made her entire stay on the team as a massive liability.

He exhaled once again before replying, "I understand but you have to see that your dominant hand is injured. You have to wait until Kageyama and Hinata arrive so that we can win again." At his words, she dropped her hands in and took a few steps back in disbelief. His words shocked her. He was really depending on two first-years to win? Was he really implying that they had been winning this entire time because of two kids? Were they that dependent?

"I can't believe you, Sugawara," she spat in anger. His words had just added fuel to the fire. He said those words so casually as if Daichi didn't contribute to the team, as if Tanaka's spikes didn't contribute to their wins, as if NONE OF THEM were doing anything and it was just Hinata and Kageyama's existence that brought them victories. "You should hear yourself. Unlike you, I do not depend on first-years to bring my team victories. It's called a team for a reason. It contains twelve to thirteen players, not two." She had spat his formerly uttered words back at him in mockery which caught him entirely off-guard.

The team had stopped doing diving laps and turned to Sugawara and Rana who had fallen into a heated argument that was fuelled by Rana in the first place. Daichi walked up to them angrily, "Oi, stop arguing like children at times like this. This is a training camp for a rea-"

Without paying an ear to Daichi's last sentence she turned to him angrily, shocking the boy himself because never had they seen the girl this furious in their lives. They always saw her as a cheery person who never got enraged even when people like Tsukishima tried to vex her; her answer had been a decent comeback and a massive smile. Right now, she looked like someone else entirely with a prominent scowl curving corners of her lips downwards, eyes angrier than a lion’s and eyebrows furrowed together. She opened her mouth to announce aloud, "I'm going back. I do not want to be in presence of people so dependent on two kids that they're content with losses until their arrival."

Nobody had it in them to stop her when she turned on her heel and began to walk away from all of them, not paying little heed to any of them. 

Daichi was angered at her unprofessional behaviour. It was a bloody training camp for crying out loud. She should accept their defeats over here because that is what would aid them in finding flaws within their playing style which would help prevent them from committing any errors during the Spring Tournament. What part of that did she not understand?

Sugawara said nothing about her behaviour but God did he feel pained internally. Her words were harsh and he knew from the basis of his research done on ADHD after her father's words that the patients of this mental disorder happened to think less rationally when angered and speak very impulsively. However that could not stop him from experiencing the pang of hurt consuming him. 

"You guys should not mind her outburst." Everyone turned around to find Kuroo leaning against the wood wall with his arms crossed against his chest, eyes closed. His face was straight with no sign of any emotion. 

When he heard no response come out of anyone from the team he sighed and began, "Rana had always been like this. She could never take her team suffering a defeat whether it was a friendly match or a practice one. Being competitive was her biggest advantage and disadvantage as a kid and even now from the looks of it. There were times she would end in bruises and injuries from a severe match but she still managed to take her teams to victories," he exhaled and looked at the door she had run out of a minute ago, "The pride of an ace is immense and one that passed down as a Captain of Shiratorizawa's Girls Team has the greatest of all prides." 

Daichi sighed before rubbing his temples in an attempt to relax himself. He was right. Back in the day, they had heard about the academy's Girls Junior Team being magnificent and defending champions of their regional title. People spoke of the Captain's insanely large aura whenever she stepped into the court with full intentions to annihilate the opposing team. Seeing losses back to back must have been hard for a person like her. 

"So," Kuroo began, taking Daichi out of his thoughts, "take it easy on her. She's not the best with being rational when angry. Don't take her seriously because she spews whatever she thinks of at the moment." 

Daichi gave the fellow Captain a firm nod with the intention to end the conversation right there and then but then he stopped and turned back to the man whose eyes went on Fukurodani playing against Ubagawa High, "Hey, Kuroo." He received a stringed 'Hmm?' from the boy whose eyes still remained on the serving Ubagawa. "What is your and Bokuto-san's relationship to Rana?"

"Curious, are we?" The Nekoma captain teased for a second before replying, "Rana, Bokuto, Kenma and I studied in the same middle-school and were neighbours back in the day." When he received no response from Daichi but rather felt more eyes turn towards him in curiosity, he began to go in greater details about it all.

 

"Rana studied with us but we never spoke to her because she was the lonely kid of the school. No one really talked to her because they were afraid of her eyes and called her a 'monster' for her strength, especially the girls," he refused to tell them about what led to her getting called a monster because that was too private for him to share with a couple of strangers, "One day we were walking back home when we saw her play volleyball on her own...or trying at least. She was trying to imitate her brother," he chuckled when he remembered the small girl trying to serve herself and spike later only for the ball to smack right back on her head, "Me, Bokuto and Kenma decided to join and play with her. She was a really shy kid back in the day, not this person you know today, so it kind of took us a while to get her to play with us but once she did, it was pretty fun. After that, all of us became really good friends and stuck through thick and thin until three years ago.." His voice fell, remembering what had happened in the match, the memory sending shivers down on his spine. 

"What happened?" 

Stiffening at the question, he turned sharply at them before answering quickly, "That's something only for her to say, not any of us. Anyways, continue your practice I have to check on my team." With that said, the boy walked away from the team of confused players.

Daichi stood confused on his spot, wondering what had truly happened during Shiratorizawa's final match against Niiyama Girls during Regional three years ago.

-

"Sugaaae, what a long and fun day it was!"

"Hinata's right. We lost all the matches, but I really enjoyed myself today."

The conversing group of twelve boys made way towards the massive room they would be spending the night in, talking about the game and the new teams they had encountered today. All of them were unimaginably ecstatic and pumped for tomorrow which would be their last day of the camp. Due to the excitement in regards to tomorrow's matches, neither of them could feel the exhaustion which had overtaken their bodies.

Sliding the doors to the large room open, they slowly entered inside but paused where they had entered, noticing the girl in their team sitting against the wall with earplugs on and listening to whatever she possibly liked. She was dressed in a white full-sleeved shirt with black pyjamas on, hugging her knees to her chest tightly; her head was buried between her legs. 

They had completely forgotten what had happened with Rana during the Fukurodani match after telling Hinata and Kageyama about it. Her feud with the entirety of the team and Sugawara, in particular, was still fresh in the heads of those who came witness to it. 

"Rana.." Daichi spoke softly, feeling a little awful about screaming at her knowing her disorder got the best of her when she fought with them. Her mental illness was the last thing on his mind when he shouted at them, so thinking about it with a cool mind made him realise how awful he was being towards the girl. 

When he heard no response from the girl, he sighed and walked over to his futon, placing his things nearby it before sliding his legs inside. He was too exhausted after all those drills and matches; he needed sleep more than anything. The other players shared his sentiment as they all began to place themselves within the comforts of their futon, ushering goodnights to one another after Asahi turned the lights off. 

"Sorry, everyone." the silence was broken by a soft voice, causing them all to look towards the silhouette of the girl which still sat leaning against the wall. "I did not mean to say such awful things. I just...have my mood swings and defeats are not a pretty sight to me. I hate seeing them, I hate witnessing my own side losing. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Sugawara, Daichi. I'm sorry." 

Daichi smiled, propping his head up with aid of his elbow, "It's okay, Rana. I understand." Sugawara who lifted himself out of the futon nodded eagerly, giving her his soft smile that looked about as motherly as ever. Though remembering the darkness in those eyes, her aura growing hostile within seconds and the way she snapped at him made his mouth feel dry; he was unable to say anything unlike his friend.

In the darkness of the room and the mild light entering the room from outside lights, the Captain witnessed the girl bring her head out from hiding and smile at him. Her eyes were red which surprised him a little, wondering if it were because she had cried or the lack of sleep she had gotten. Perhaps, they would never know because they knew her not well enough to ask anything about it.

The other team members smiled to themselves, knowing things were okay between them. They had a thrilling day to look forward to tomorrow. 


	14. Chapter 14

  
  
"Just take this shit out of my hand already, it's killing me."

"But-"

"My hand is fine, Goddammit. Just take it out."

The nurse nodded reluctantly before opening the wound and taking the stitches out slowly with small winces coming from the girl. Her hand looked better than fine with the skin on her knuckles all healed and looking dandy despite her getting the stitches removed before the designated time. The petroleum jelly had truly caused it to become better which made her feel content about it all.

It was already the second and last day of the training camp which made her feel a little bummed out about not participating enough in games. Five o'clock of the morning strung on the clock that hung in the infirmary when the nurse had pulled out those stitches and put on an anti-infective over it before telling her she was good to go. After flexing her hand a few times to check if she was able to move it, the girl smiled from ear to ear when noticing it felt better than normal followed by her skipping out of the room like a twelve-year-old, leaving the sleepy nurse behind to doze off on her desk.

Picking her pace, she ran towards the gym with a massive grin over her face before screaming a loud 'BOO-YEAH' out of happiness that ran avidly in her veins. She was finally going to play and make sure that they win every single match regardless of who was strong and who was not.

Dragging the gym door open, she stepped inside the empty place and sighed in content. She was able to stand in her heaven and enjoy it without having to watch others relish and bask in its beauty.

Running over to the storage room, she picked up three volleyballs and began to set up the net for herself all by her lonesome after the countless practice of doing it at her very own home for her lazy brother. Pressing her hand against it to test its tightness, the ace grinned widely when she noticed it was just right level of taut for her.

"Time to test my hand with some serves," she muttered to herself, moving a few meters away from the boundary line with the ball in hand. Grasping onto it with her hand, she held it with her stretched forward, her index finger pointing at an imaginary group of six players in an attempt to say 'you're done' with a stern face. After a second of standing in that position in complete silence, the girl began to roar loudly, head thrown back as loud laughter-filled and echoed throughout the enormous gymnasium.

"Oh Oikawa, your badass and serious face is the best, " she breathed out, brushing a tear that escaped her eye. "Okay, now an actual serve." Tilting her head left and right with legs steadied, she began to run towards the boundary before stopping three feet away, throwing a spinning ball up in the air and jumping right up with both legs bent back and arms stretched out. She curled her left arm towards her chest before hitting the speeding ball with all her prowess, giving it a meteoric speed landing right outside the bounds of the opposite court.

"Oops," she whispered, sticking her tongue out while giggling at her mistake.

The previously shut doors of the gym were slid open to reveal a groggy Kageyama enter through the doors. The setter looked like a mess; his hair was sticking in all directions with his white shirt partly tucked into his black trousers, making him look hilarious to the girl. He shut the doors behind himself, rubbing his eyes lazily and taking a massive yawn before realising there was a girl in front of him. The boy quickly straightened up and took an apologetic bow, greeting her respectfully.

Rana chuckled at his awkward apology before walking over to him and standing a mere foot away, "Ne, Kageyama, don't apologise for being sleepy." She reached a hand over to his head and began to straighten his locks, surprising the boy who blushed at their closeness and how she was cutely reaching over to fix his hair. He did nothing to stop her as she brought out his shirt from his trousers and ran her hands over it to straighten it, accidentally pressing a hand over his taut abs-- the colour on his cheeks reddening even more.

Rana placed her hands on his shoulders after making him look well-presentable, turning up to look at him in the eyes with a soft smile, "You look good to go, setter bo- wait, why are you so red?" His crimson-tinted cheeks made her reach a hand over to his face, pressing the back of her hand against its side which blew a fuse in the boy.  


"Kageyama! You're burning!"  
  
  
  
  


"Oi, Rana," her head perked up at his voice, turning to him while he set the second net in the gym up with her. He stood at one end of the boundary whilst she stood at the other, a smile on her face as she tightened the net with the boy. "I want to give you tosses."

Her eyes widened a little in surprise at his words because Kageyama and her never really played beside each other. She suited herself to Yamaguchi and Sugawara's tosses easily as they went against each other on usual. Kageyama played more with Asahi, Tanaka and Hinata on his side. Knowing the King of the Court, as Oikawa once mentioned, wanted to give her tosses caught her off-guard. 

The boy had seen her hand and questioned her regarding it after getting over his minor..episode there. When she flexed it and proved it was doing well despite the darkened scars decorating her knuckles which gave him a tiny feeling that there was little honesty in her words about it, he decided she was probably well enough to play with him. 

Tilting her head slightly with a close-eyed smile she replied happily, "Sure thing! Let's get on to it!" After tightening the net with him, she walked over with him to the other side of the gym where she had been initially pulling serves.

Both stood at the left side of the court, a pile of balls sitting outside of their side waiting to be served, tossed and spike. Rana picked one ball out of them to serve Kageyama who stood at the opposite of their side. She turned and looked at him in the eyes, asking if she could initiate the practice and when she saw the firm nod from him, she served the ball to him before running towards the other side, Kageyama tossing the ball to her with his carefully calculated speed to match her spike from other matches.

Stopping near the net, she bent towards the ground before jumping high up in the air, her left arm contracted towards her body while the right one was stretched out, finding the ball right in front of it within a mere nanosecond and hitting it harshly towards the opposite court, the sound of it echoing off loudly against the walls of the empty gym.

'Sugoi...' Kageyama thought to himself, turning his gaze to his hands in surprise. This was his first toss to the girl and he...loved it. He loved this toss he gave to her. It made him feel thrilled and experience an entirely new emotion.

"Kageyama," he diverted his attention to the girl who looked seriously to him, her lips in a straight line, "stop thinking and adapting to my pace from the previous spikes. I can adjust to the speed of your toss, so give me one that you feel will be the most comfortable to you."

She was talking about those tosses he gave his team during Kita Daiichi Junior High. How she came to know about those, he knew not, but her words made him realise she wanted to test herself with him as her side-man during games. Rana wanted to see if she could play as good as she did with Yamaguchi and Sugawara tossing balls to her.

Receiving the nod from Kageyama, she walked back and picked another ball up, serving it over to him. Her shoes began to skid over the wooden floor as she ran over to the net briskly with hands behind her resembling a white eagle's wings, ready for a huge ascension into the air while eyes both on Kageyama and what laid ahead of her. The boy had picked the ball and tossed it over to her with speed quicker than the flash itself.

The girl leapt high into the air, easily surpassing the height Hinata reaches. Kageyama's eyes widened in awe as he watched her put her left hand behind her and reach her right forward to smack the high and speedy ball down on the other side right within the bounds. The ball hit the ground far loudly than the former before it bounced off high and slammed far into the wooden wall of the gym, following it was the silence of surprise.

The setter stood, awed, as words of Nekoma's captain played in his head when they were playing against them after their arrival.

"Rana's always angry. You never see it but she has pent up anger from her past raging within her. She directs it all in her spikes that's why they've always been very hard to stop for girls and boys alike. However that wasn't her greatest attribute as a volleyball player," he had paused, turning to Kageyama with a loop-sided grin, "she manages to adjust to every setter's toss where it's slow or fast. You toss it slowly at her and her spike will be as powerful as a spike with a faster one."

But this ball, it was hit harsher and far faster than the others. Even he did not see the ball until it had bounced off to slam against the wall. The speed of his toss was an icing to the cake of her beastly spike.

He turned to look at his hands he threw the brisk toss with. The toss from his Kingly days, the jump, the spike and the sound it birthed sent shivers down his spine. He felt a new jolt of energy coursing through his veins now, knowing there was one person who he could toss to without improvising to their pace whatsoever. He loved the feeling that came with these moments the two shared.

He wanted to feel it again.

"Kageyama?" Rana had turned worriedly to the boy who was staring at his hands while deeply occupied in his train of thoughts. Her formerly wounded hand hurt a little from the spike, but she decided not to pay heed to it knowing it was normal for it to make her wince after not doing anything with it.

After a few seconds of silence in the court, Kageyama turned to the girl with determination blazing fiercely in his eyes, hands turned into fists on his sides, "More." It was a simple demand from the regular setter; a simple demand that brought about a huge smile on her face.

He received a resolute nod from her.

 

* * *

 

The morning moved forward after an hour of practising spikes and tosses for Rana and Kageyama who bonded over their playing, and now were seated next to each other on the table, munching down on their breakfast as quickly as possible to complete their game against Nekoma. They had lost the two sets against them as Hinata explained how the new half-Russian player Lev Haiba was proving an intriguing opponent. Rana had not seen him due to her frustration with everyone yesterday, which was the reason why she had not greeted a single player other than Kuroo and Bokuto, but it would be interesting to see him today. 

After the breakfast, the girl happily dressed into her white shirt and black shorts like the boys followed by knee-pads and a lime shade loose waist that displayed '13' in black on either side, for this was the day she would be making debut as a Karasuno player in practice matches. The mere thought of playing competitively against another team she thoroughly observed sent jolts of energy down her veins. All teams in their midst were powerful compared to them with Ubugawa having exceptional serves, Shinzen mastering combo offence attacks, Fukurodani led by one of the top aces in the entirety of Japan and Nekoma, well- their perception skills made them sharp and a threatening opponent.

They had a lot of improvement to do.

Everyone entered back into the gymnasium after circling around Rana upon getting done with breakfast, taking operative looks at her hand and interrogating her about its well-being. Only after she tiringly explained her hand was better than ever through thorough demonstration did they take her word for truth and let her go, though almost all of them felt suspicious about her previously stated answer regarding the injury, especially the Coach and teacher. Following their entry into the follow, the players stood in a semi-circle line on their side of the court before Shimizu, Yachi, Ukai and Takeda with serious faces on as their coach spoke to them, "Our first game today is with Nekoma. How did we do yesterday?"

Shimizu opened up her notebook and began to speak out loud, "This will be our third set overall with Nekoma. Yesterday, we played two sets with them. The scores were seventeen to twenty-five and nineteen to twenty-five, both our losses." Rana found herself slightly wincing at those words. It was a good thing she had left the gymnasium or she would have thrown a massive tantrum aimed at her team's losses.

"Simply put, we haven't won a single set," everyone turned back to their Coach who had a smile on despite the sweat-drop appearing on the side of his head, "But if we calm down and go out there with full force, they should be opponents we can fight on equal footing." Ukai turned to Hinata and Kageyama, "Hinata and Kageyama, this is your first Nekoma set in a while, isn't it? Go show 'em what you've got."

"RIGHT!" both boys chanted with determination before the regulars filled in the court as the whistle blew with the rest standing on the sidelines. Sugawara and Rana waved at each other from the distance they stood at before jogging towards each other and standing next to the other with polite smiles on their faces.

"How do you feel today, Rana, especially your hand?" He questioned, voice filled with care and slight worry though it was barely noticeable seeing the girl was in high spirits as compared to the way she had been yesterday.

Her face turned to him with her boyish smile before she replied, "I feel amazing, Suga and my hand, well- it feels good. What about you?"

"I feel great too now that you're fine. Also..." the girl turned to him in concern when the volume of his voice dropped by a notch at the beginning of a new sentence. The grey-haired boy's head hung low, "...your words made me and the rest realise something. You were right. We were depending too much on Kageyama and Hinata the past time...so much that we've begun to relax. I don't want to do that anymore. I want to play on the court as much as I can before college." He looked up to her with determination in his eyes, "I'll put my two hundred percent to train and play! I want to give you more tosses, to the Beast of Karasuno!"

A massive smile made way on her facial expression followed by the girl moving her hands over to the boy and entwining her fingers with his, raising them to their chests, "I'm so proud of you, Sugawara. So proud. I want you to toss to me too! We're doing this together, practising and training to our fullest so that we can get to play on the court as much as possible!"

Tightening his grip on her fingers, he nodded adamantly to her, vowing in his head that the two will play together side-by-side during the Spring Tournament and the Nationals. She was the ace and he was the setter, both not regulars but no lesser than them. They had their own strengths that no one could beseech. One was the mind and the other was the action. Together with excelled training, no one could stand before them.

"Oi, this is no time to begin a romantic fairytale, you two! Turn your attention to the game." Sugawara's faced turned a bright pink upon hearing Ukai's voice say something so scandalous aimed at them. He quickly removed his fingers from her grasp and backed off with a red face, turning to the game again though he could not help but scream internally at the fact he had unconsciously returned their hand-holding session in the heat of the moment.

The girl and her physically affectionate behaviour were rubbing off on him after all.

Meanwhile, the girl he had gone beet red over was standing and watching everyone play while scratching her head confusingly, "Romantic fairytale...? What's that?"

 

* * *

 

The whistle for the last set between Nekoma and Karasuno blew.

It was the most awkward match Rana and the non-regular players had seen in a while. Lev Haiba, the new spiker who looked about having a pea-sized brain, had stopped Kageyama and Hinata's infamous quick attack which set them all off. He continued on to stop other attacks both boys did, finally reading their moves well and through. However what truly set all of them on the edge was Asahi and Hinata crashing against each other when trying to receive a ball from the Nekoma, especially the regular ace of the team himself, realising the orange-haired boy was attempting to surpass him. The game miserably with a nineteen to twenty-five score.

Rana wordlessly got off the ground she had been sitting and fidgeting throughout the set on and steadied herself for a lap of diving, the first of which she would get to do today.

"Mizumoto-san!" Before the girl could run and dive on the ground, she found a quivering Yachi standing behind her. She was one of the two girls that had taken her to the infirmary. Both had not engaged in a conversation ever since she became a manager as Rana spoke mostly to Kiyoko, avoiding the little blonde girl even more lately due to what had happened which made things more awkward than they already were. Rana was not one to speak to girls usually and knowing two particular girls were behind her ending up in the nurse's room that day did not help her situation at all. 

"You don't wanna do diving," the girl muttered under her breath. This caught other boys' attention standing next to them as they turned to the conversing girls.

"Why?" Rana tilted her head in confusion, trying to mask her awkwardness in the girl's presence with her usual upbeat, oblivious and stupid behaviour.

"Because.." she paused embarrassingly, her cheeks turning pink.

"Because?"

"Because your chest, it's uh- it'll uh, hurt."

The boys who were listening stilled suddenly, turning to stones at those words. She was right. Rana was a girl and had a..womanly chest which might hurt while diving. They had completely forgotten she was a girl again!

However, the girl did not share their line of thinking, giving a close-eyed smile with a tilted head, "It's already, Yachi-san. I wear a sports bra which doesn't make it hurt and my assets are also pretty small."

Giving the flustered girl one last shrug, she turned back to the ground and dove perfectly, her hands spread forward as her body skidded over the newly waxed court effortlessly, even better than boys like Hinata. The spectator boys nodded in approval while Yachi had her eyes covered in fear until she was already standing with a massive smile on her face, talking to Nishinoya who was complimenting her on the smooth dive.

The small moment, however, did not change the glum mood set over the place as they all collectively exited the gym with frowns over their faces. Rana knew their next match was against Fukurodani, so she decided to walk outside on the grounds to relax her head a little from the brewing tension in the court.

She joined in with Ennoshita, Narita and Kinoshita as the group of four walked around the place, discussing whatever happened during the match especially between Kageyama and Hinata alongside Hinata and Asahi. It had made them a tad worried too much like her seeing as Hinata wanted to take the upper hand in both situations which resulted in such troubles in the first place. All the four could hope was for things to get better before Daichi called on them to return back to the gym for their next match against Fukurodani.

They all entered back into the gym with Rana beginning to stretch her legs followed by her arms, readying herself for a possible debut but with everyone awaiting a change, there was a possibility she might not do it today either.

There was disappointment bubbling in her stomach at the thought of being in the team for so long but being incapable of making any debuts officially whatsoever. She wanted to prove to people that she had still talent in volleyball- that she was still an amazing wing-spiker even though she was no longer a starting ace on this team, that she still had the strength and many tricks up her sleeve-

But her rational side thoroughly reminded her that all this was just to fix her academic embarrassment and make it in next grade. The entire reason why she even entered this club, why she was playing again was for her co-curricular achievements to hide her academic embarrassment. This is why she was playing right now, why she was in the club.

But then why, she asked her rational side, why did she not think of that in a while. Why did she not think of that when she was speaking to Ushijima that day with Kageyama and Hinata, why did she not think of that when she broke the mirror in half at the thought of not making into Tokyo away game, why did she not think of this being just a club to cover her academic failure when she was given her official Karasuno jersey and cried tears at being a crow?

Why did she feel so much love and passion towards a mere club that she joined for self-centred purposes?

Shaking her head off those petty thoughts, she turned to look up at Narita making way where Hinata was standing and the orange-haired boy, confusing her ultimately. Getting off the ground after squatting, she walked over to the coach with her query, "Coach, why isn't Hinata playing?"

He sighed before turning to the girl and replying, "He's got a lot on his mind that he needs to get rid of which I don't want to impact on the rest of the team. I'm switching him out with Narita."

'Ah, so it was what happened during the Nekoma match which resulted in this,' she thought to herself, nodding at the Coach and walking back to her former place she was sitting on the ground on. Sugawara followed suit and sat right next to her with a smile.

Cupping her hands around her mouth, she shouted on top of her lungs, "GO, NARITA! YOU CAN DO IT, I TRUST YOU!" The boy looked at her with surprise seeing her wave at him wildly before giving him thumbs up with a huge smile. Her support made him feel a tad better and confident in himself as he gave her a strong nod before turning to stare ahead at the Fukurodani team.

Sugawara turned his head at the girl who sat so casually on the ground next to him, lips pulled in a massive smile despite there being a little force that only he could see. She was raising her team's spirits regardless of what took place in the previous match which had disturbed her as much as the rest. She moved on and cheered for the rest of the boys. Rana was acting so much different from the person she was yesterday, cheering Tanaka to hit them all with his best spikes and reminding Nishinoya to be the guardian deity of Karasuno he's renowned to be which resulted in the boys' spirits rising far more than initially as the wing-spiker almost took of his shirt against to swing it in the air but was stopped by a Daichi. She hooted for Daichi, Kageyama and Asahi to do their best who gave her firm smiles and thumbs up, though the setter among them was a little more straight-faced and red than the other two boys.

The first set ended with eighteen to twenty-five with Karasuno losing, putting Rana on the edge of her seated location once again. She did not stop cheering for them, but their losses had made her tensed once again. The former Captain of Shiratorizawa was happy seeing Bokuto genuinely content with a team that loved and appreciated him, something he was deprived of when he was in Junior High, but she could not stand these constant losses.

The regulars were called back to discuss strategy and discussing it with Ukai while Rana remained seated next to a rather depressed Hinata, trying to console him to her fullest with random topics. Sugawara sat on the other side of the orange-head, agreeing and adding onto what the ace was saying.

It was during an embarrassing story from her past where she hit a former strict principal of her middle-school on the ass while spiking which had grown into a massive situation after a teammate had shouted 'nice receive!' at the older woman that Ukai shouted her name and ushered her over. She signalled Sugawara to continue speaking to Hinata before getting off the ground and walking over to the group, confused.

When she stood between Daichi and Tanaka in their huddled group, Ukai announced to them, "Rana will be switching with Asahi for the rest of the match. You need to clear your head too, Asahi. I don't want petty things distracting the regular players again after this." Her eyes shot in pleasant delight, realising this was the time she had been waiting so patiently for.

The regular smiled gently at her, shaking hands with her before he walked off to where Sugawara was sitting next to Hinata, joining in the discussion.

The whistle was blown off and she stepped into the bounds of the court, relishing the exhilarating feeling that washed over her when she realised that she was the ace for the next two sets straight. It was a practice match, but against an opponent other than her own team nonetheless. This was her moment to shine and remind everyone that the Beast still thrives and under the very orange-black banner of Karasuno.

All boys on opposing teams turned to look at her with interest, realising that they'll finally get to see the female player in action. They knew about the former Beast of Shiratorizawa, also known to be the 'Female Ushijima' around. Her winning streak in Junior High Regional was one praised among other girl teams as they usually whined about their coaches telling them about the glory of one Captain who turned the team into one of wonder and greatness.

They were only curious to see how she would fare after a three-year absence and among boys on top of that.

"Hey, hey, hey! My best friend is playing against me today!" Bokuto spoke loudly, pointing at the girl with a large grin plastered over his face. She was standing in the front with Kageyama and Nishinoya, smiling brightly.

"Yes, Kou. This is the first time we're playing against each other ever, right?"

His face turned a little more serious though the nostalgic smile did not disappear off of it, "Yes. We always played side by side in primary school."

Both gave each other one last smile in remembrance of their childhood memories before the whistle of the game's commencement was blown by the referee.

The game began with Fukurodani serving the ball into their side of the court that was received by Daichi in the back who passed it over to Narita. The boy threw it as a chance ball into the other side of the court which was caught by Akaashi Keiji, a second-year and best friend of Bokuto, who tossed it over to the ace. Bokuto, seeing it as a perfect opportunity, spiked it into their side, scoring a point.

Ukai carefully observed the ace who had barely reacted to the ball tossed in their side. He had a feeling she was doing what she did during her first game before him. Standing with her legs apart and hands pressed together, Rana's eyes were set like a hawk over the boys who celebrated their next two points while her side grew tensed at their lack of decent performance. Her calculative eyes were detected by none except Keiji who was growing tad uncomfortable with the hawk-like eyes analysing them and their playing style; he felt like a prey whose weaknesses were being figured by the predator.

The score was five to zero, but the seated players outside of the boundaries did not cease trying to cheer them up. Captains of Shinzen and Ubugawa High were chuckling to themselves, realising the girl was as useful to the team as algebra in daily life. Kuroo, on the other hand, had his hands folded against his chest and was watching the girl closely. He could not bring himself to laugh at her when she had a decent fold of tricks up her sleeve at all times. This was not how Rana played; he knew her better than most of the people inside the gym. He awaited her to display her true colours.

The next ball was served by a player from Fukurodani side once again, sending it straight into Karasuno's side as Nishinoya picked it up and tossed it over to Kageyama. He intended to pass it over to Tanaka who had motioned to toss it over to him, but his eyes easily caught the blue-green eyes of the girl who ran from her position in the back all the way forward with her renowned speed. Knowing it was a signal from her to set it for her, he raised his hands in the air and gave a diagonal toss to the girl. With Tanaka acting a momentary decoy, both jumped in the air at the very same time.

The Fukurodani saw the girl run and the setter tossing the ball over to her, making the two middle-blockers run over to her side and leap with hands up in the air to block her ball. However, their intimidating height and block did not stop the girl smirk and hit the ball down in their court, past their hands, past their defences.

"HELL YEAHHH!" she shouted loudly into the air with a large grin coming over her face. Rana turned over to her teammates and gave them high-fives one by one who was also smiling, the memories of her first game flooding their memories. She did the same during that very match; lull the opposition into thinking she's weak and then show her true colours.

Bokuto turned to the shocked middle-blockers in surprise. The side of their hands was burning red from the ball that went past their hands with ease and hit the floor with a meteoric speed that did not even allow the libero to receive it. One of them turned to their captain in awe before uttering, "It went..past our hands."

The other Captains were a tad shocked, including the Nekoma's leader who had forgotten how powerful her spikes were even when she was a child. Her strength was the reason she suffered from many troubles in life, but on the volleyball court, it was her biggest advantage. Her prowess was what helped her reign in the court.

The second set went forward with her, Daichi and Tanaka persistently scoring back and forth for their team, giving them a powerful lead against Fukurodani who was left awestruck at the girl's penetrable spikes that put down any defences with ease. Karasuno won with a score of twenty-five to twenty-one.

Her gameplay had attracted the attention of the other coaches who sat at the opposite side on their chairs, observing her powerful spikes with scrutinising gazes. Nekomata was the most intrigued by her style of play, reminding him of a certain boy he observed playing in Nationals long ago. Even if she stood in the back, she easily managed to make a way in the frontlines and score points without anyone having the capability to block her spikes at all. For someone of her height, she was extra-ordinarily intimidating on the volleyball court. The height she reached when jumping was higher than Hinata accompanied by her speed and stamina. Mizumoto had a way of using her short height to her very advantage, sneaking past every player only to jump up in the air and make a grandeur appearance, looking like the white eagle she once was.

Nekomata had known about her from the Captain of his team who spoke of her to his players from occasion to occasion, reminding them of the Beast of Shiratorizawa. Kuroo especially trained himself to be a superior blocker to stop balls from boys that may have her strength.

The Captains of other teams were sitting on top of the stage and observing her game, almost surprised at how well she blended with the boys and played so well. They had called onto their other players to watch the game as the last set was about to commence. Either Fukurodani would be winning this game or Karasuno, making things all very interesting and intense.

Rana felt everyone's eyes on her, increasing her confidence by a mile as she gulped down an entire bottle of water while wiping all the sweat off her forehead and neck quickly to get back into the game. Yachi was standing next to her, looking at the intimidating girl in hopes she'd give her the bottle back once she finishes it off entirely.

"Oi, Rana. You did one hell of a job there. Keep it up, you're playing the next set too," Coach Ukai leaned over and ruffled her hair that got messier than they already were within the ponytail she had tied up before the beginning of the match. However, she was still grateful about his words as she nodded feverishly before placing the towel down and handing the water bottle over to Yachi with an appreciative but tired smile, sending the girl's face up in flames.

The group of six stood around their Coach Ukai who began to speak loudly to them, "That was an amazing set and very refreshing to see. Keep it up and we might win our last match of this training camp." He turned his attention to Rana and Tanaka who stood side by side with large smiles on their faces, "Rana, Tanaka continue giving them those spikes. Kageyama-" he turned to the setter who suddenly looked more alert, "-I want you to continue tossing faster balls to Rana over here. She can easily adjust to everyone's speed which is a good advantage to us. Everyone else, keep fighting and we're winning this game against them!"

"OSSU!" all of them shouted on top of their lungs before dispersing all over the court.

The whistle of commencement was blown for the last set as they all prepared themselves for what was ought to come with this game.

Rana was breathing heavily with her eyes on the scoreboard that read twenty-six to twenty-five. The match was playing in Karasuno's favour currently, but it wasn't a while before with Fukurodani who had begun to lead the moment they started to block other's spikes and use various tactics to have Bokuto score over and over, past their defences. Karasuno's serves and spikes helped keep up with them and their strength.

Narita was replaced with Ennoshita who was good on defences luckily, but it still did not help the fact they were becoming overwhelmed by the strength of the Kante region's powerhouse. They were all thoroughly tired and exhausted with how long the game had stretched with both teams leading back and forth, sending everyone into periods of frustration including the other Captains and coaches who intently watched the teams with discerning gazes.

The Coach had called them over for the last time-out of the game as the girl gulped down another water bottle angrily as Ukai lectured them on about changing tactics to catch them off-guard and win this game at all costs. He stood right next to the seated girl, placing a firm hand over her drenched from sweat shoulder firmly before announcing, "We need to win this game no matter what cost. We're too close to winning to let it go. So, whatever next ball is thrown into our side, throw it over to Kageyama who will be giving it to Rana over here. This is it; we're not leaving without winning."  Rana and the boys were a little surprised at that but accepted it nonetheless. They gave each other one last nod with determination before walking over to the court.

If Rana was not doing her best to keep herself together, her legs would be shaking from the tiredness and the level of overwhelming this game had become. Everyone's hard gazes were no longer encouraging her; they were only making her feel vulnerable. They were expecting, hopeful and judgemental, just as how they had been that day all those years ago. The mental pressure, those flashbacks playing all over again from the small trigger were causing her head to slap loudly in her chest, a sound she could only hear, with ragged breaths escaping her lips. 

"I came on this court with the intention to win and I'm not leaving until I win this damn thing," she whispered to herself as the whistle was blown, trying to shake away everything that had the most minor link to the negativity looming within her. She had to be positive for her team as always. Both teams returned to their former positions as Fukurodani served the new ball into the air with the previous point scored by them due to the exhaustion that had overtaken the opposing players. 

Nishinoya received the surprisingly powerful serve before handing it over to Ennoshita who sent the chance ball to the other side, knowing that a spike was impossible to occur. The shout of the said chance ball was echoed throughout the court as Akaashi picked it up, setting it up in the air for Bokuto to spike.

Everyone's eyes went wide at that because Bokuto's spikes were extraordinaire much like her's and their side had trouble stopping them. The loss of Karasuno was almost determined the moment it touched the ace's hand to hit in the other side of the court with full force because all of them were too tired to play past this set now.

However, it never reached the other side.

The entire room went into mild shock when they saw two hands up in the air, touching Bokuto's nearly spiked ball almost gently, decreasing its force and speed to absolutely nothing as it slowly landed on the ground with a soft thud, bouncing and rolling away.

Silence fell over the room for a good minute after that as Bokuto landed on his feet around the same time as the blocker. His face turned down to the ground in surprise after seeing those green-blue eyes stare darkly at him when they met on the border separating them once and for all. That moment where they shared eye-contact while she was in the air like him, he realised that the girl who played beside him at all times was no more. What existed underneath her skin was something bright yet dark, driven by passion and years of hatred. Years of taunting, years of mockery, years of gossip and years of remaining in shame, self-hatred and darkness with no light.

Rana Mizumoto had blocked his ball and scored the winning point for her team.

"YEAH!" she shouted on top of her lungs, raising her fist to pump it in the air with adrenaline racing through her body. Falling to her knees, she was surrounded by her team which huddled around her in happiness as some ruffled her hair while some gave her tight hugs out of happiness. This was their first victory against Fukurodani and it felt blissful. 

So blissful to all.

"This is a practice match, why are they getting so mad about a win in it?," Tsukishima muttered irritatingly to himself seeing the girl smile wildly at her teammates who were congratulating her for stopping Bokuto's ball and giving them the winning score. Yamaguchi, hearing his friend's words, only smiled nervously not saying anything.

Almost everyone in the room, including Coach Ukai and the other Coaches, were taken aback by their win because none of them had seen her. They recalled seeing the girl standing in the back with Kageyama and Ennoshita but neither one of them saw her make way silently among the players, come forth in the frontlines. But they all saw the figure of the girl jump high up in the air with hands out to stop Bokuto's ball. She looked magnificent; a true beastly crow. Not an eagle. A crow.

Kuroo and Kenma sat next to each other with the Captain giving a loop-sided grin in pride seeing the girl celebrate, "They never see you coming, huh? Bokuto always played beside you that's why he never saw this side of yours. I've gotten to see it, and damn kitten, you're truly become the beast now."

Ogano of Shinzen tensed slightly despite that nervous smirk on his face seeing Karasuno celebrate their win against Fukurodani before speaking loudly to his friend Goura of Ubugawa, "First the freak duo and now this chick? Karasuno will be a force to reckon with in Spring Tournament."

Goura nodded calmly with his hands folded against his chest, " Put the duo and the Beast on the court at the same time, they'll easily make it to the Nationals and maybe as far as winning it."

"Hmm. That's why we need to train more and more."

Going back to the Karasuno team, Rana was patted on the back by the entirety of the team before she walked over to Fukurodani's side and congratulated them on their game. They offered her smiles and compliments about her spiking skills before she left their side which was thoroughly exhausted and sat next to Bokuto. He was seated far from his team and everyone against the wall of the gymnasium with his head hanging ever so low.

"Kou," she whispered to him, nudging his side. She was aware he was having one of his moods again despite his team cheering him up, reminding him it was a mere practice match. It had been a while since Rana had seen it herself since Junior High. Back in the day, both were there for each other no matter what but now, with different schools everything was different.

"Leave me alone. You don't want to talk to a captain of a team that can't even give them a win," He mumbled from between his legs. He sounded so cute, Rana could not help herself from finding him adorable and fawning over him. She missed him so bloody much.

Rubbing soothing circles over his back she began to talk to him, "Kou, you've taken them to Nationals repeatedly. I don't think you're a captain who can't give them a win. They love you more than anything, even more than me. It was just a practice match. Do you best to defeat us while I'm on the team next time."

He lifted his head up to look into her heterochromatic eyes that shone underneath the bright lights of the gymnasium. Her chapped lips were etched in a huge smile just for him that equally reached her eyes. She spoke the truth and the words he needed to get out of his 'mood'. The brightness and positivity that radiated from her face brought about a boyish smile on his lips.

"Hey, hey, hey now. Nobody can love me more than you," He spoke loudly. Bokuto was back to being her favourite owl; not like he wasn't her favourite when he felt bad. She loved him terribly and it was an undeniable fact.

Taking his dirty but calloused hands in her equally dirty ones she nodded briskly, "You're right, Kou. Nobody can love you more than I do and nobody can love me more than you." His grip on her hands tightened for a second before both threw themselves at each in massive bear hugs while sitting, laughing simultaneously at it all.

Karasuno's players paused alongside Fukurodani as they watched the two aces hug each other like it's the last time they'll be seeing each other, smiling and laughing which brightened the mood of the latter team a little too. They weren't surprised at their closeness as they had been initially because Kuroo had cleared their past to them well and through.

"I love you so much, Kou," she whispered into his neck happily. The emotions and adrenaline pumping in their blood were causing this odd impulsive physical affection both were showing each other. Neither of the two truly minded it because despite their age now, both still felt like the little children they once were, hugging and giving love to the other without any care about anyone else in the world.

"I love you more, Rana," he said back a little louder, smiling against her shoulder.

They had grown up together and been there for the other during their bad times. He was there to defend her against those who used to bully her as a child even before they became friends; when the same children came at him for looking so 'weird' and being too energetic for their liking, she stood up to defend him. Despite them constantly defending one another, they were rather shy to speak to each other because Bokuto was afraid he might scare her and she was afraid she would scare him away. Their similar fears were diminished by Kuroo who approached her with Bokuto and Kenma to play volleyball, putting the two on one side to play against him and Kozume. Once they played side by side, the foundations of the strongest friendship were set in the air.

They spent the entire primary school years together with Kuroo and Kenma on their side. Despite the other two on their side, Bokuto and Rana managed to develop a stronger bond with one another than with the other two, eating together, sitting together in class and coming over at the other's house to play and study (though they always never studied notwithstanding the excuse).

Separating and leaving to Miyagi was the hardest decision her family took because of her reaction to it. She wailed and cried about it because she had sworn to Bokuto they would be attending Junior High, High School, College and University all together! How could she leave her best friend just like that after such a promise?

Leaving Tokyo to return to Miyagi was even harder when both of them were crying and hugging each other, promising to write letters and call each other daily. They pertained contact until the last year of Junior High when he came to watch her finals against Niiyama..when he saw what happened during it. After that, Rana simply went missing. Her parents came to receive her end of school year certificate but nothing was heard of the girl by any of her friends for the next three years until this week.

She had returned as a different person but the type of different Bokuto did not mind a little bit. She was still perfect to him and him, to her.

"Hey," Bokuto said, pulling away from her and looking at her in the eyes happily, "I was thinking that this is the first time we played against each other. It was fun but I thought, will you still attend the same college as me? I mean if you think about it Junior High and High School didn't happen because of whatever and I hated it but I still wanna you know-"

"Yes, Bokuto."

"Huh?"

She gave him a soft smile and a strong nod before replying, "I talked to my parents about it before starting Karasuno and I'll be coming to Tokyo for college. We're studying together in college."

A large grin crossed his face as he engulfed her into another tight hug before speaking over her shoulder, "Finally! College with you before our professional careers happen!" He went on ranting about how they could become players on the national team, how they could rise together as aces from the men's and women's teams while she enthusiastically replied to all of his sentences despite her mind getting muddled after the mention of 'professional careers'.

As Bokuto believed, they had their future set in stone. No matter what happens, they would stick through thick and thin. That's what true friendship was to the duo.

 

* * *

 

The sun was on its way to set and Karasuno's team was good to leave to Miyagi and return within two weeks for the longer summer training camp. Rana had packed all her bags and slung them lazily over her shoulders, thanking every team's captain for letting her play and treating her so well much like the rest of the team.

Some of the players came outside to bid them a goodbye alongside Nekomata coach who was grinning like a cat, standing right next to their bus. His hands were behind his back while his eyes were open for the first time in a while and looking at the girl almost expectingly, "Mizumoto Rana."

The entire team stopped from climbing the bus and turned to the Coach and the confused girl who tilted her head in confusion at the man who stood right next to their bus with Bokuto, Kuroo and Kenma next to him The Captains were smiling wickedly that sent a feeling of uncertainty and confusion in her chest despite not letting it affect her outward expression. "Coach Nekomata?"

"Someone has finally arrived to meet you today," he replied to her with a hinting voice, anticipating her to understand but the girl was just as dense as a rock.

"Me? Who would come to meet me?" She asked, putting a hand to her chin and staring up at the sky in an attempt to accelerate her brain into thinking.

"Yare, yare. Who would come to meet you if not me?" Her eyes widened in huge shock as an extraordinarily tall figure appeared from the side of the bus, sending everyone's jaws to the ground.

"MIZUMOTO S-SORA?!"


	15. Chapter 15

  
  
  
There, standing before them in all his glory, was Mizumoto Sora. The Vice-Captain of Japanese National Team. The thrice silver medalist and once gold medalist. The man who took the Men's Japanese Volleyball National Team from eighteenth ranking in the world to number two. The top player in Australian and American volleyball leagues, and most wanted one in the market. The ace who can manage to play every position elegantly and bring the best out of his team. Sora Mizumoto, the pride of Japan.

The brother of Rana Mizumoto.

The girl ran over to her brother and hugged his torso tightly, a huge smile etched over her face. The man smirked at her greeting before wrapping his arms around her head, ruffling her hair slightly in the process. He loved all the greetings from his sister and being hugged was the best of all.

Everyone else, on the hand, had their jaws dropped to the ground with the pride of Japan standing before them ever so gloriously. He was the Knight of the Court, bearing the flag of his nation with dignity everywhere he went. Everyone had watched him play and seen how well-accommodated he got to every single position during the game; a perfect setter, a perfect wing-spiker, an amazing middle-blocker, an amazing defence specialist. Sora Mizumoto was all-round the most perfect player most of them had seen.

His perfection did not limit to his playing only. The man was very good-looking too. With a magnificent height of six feet and four inches, he had tan skin from all the playing that went well with the rest of his features. His hair was a dark brown but tad lighter at the ends as they were in styled in an undercut with the upper portion of his hair falling over his forehead in a fringe, some strands getting slightly over his bright green eyes. The man's face was symmetrically perfect in all regards, blessed with a chiselled jawline, pointy but crooked nose, cupid shaped lips, eyebrows arched upwards beautifully. He even had long eyelashes which were unfair!

His body was well-toned with muscular upper figure alongside his legs that appeared to have been going through good leg days lately. He was dressed in a black v-neck skin-tight shirt, giving all a glimpse of his abs hidden underneath the piece of thin fabric accompanied by dark jeans and boots. Above the shirt, he had a black jacket on which made him look a tad more professional than the rest of his attire. Around his neck, the man wore a silver necklace shaped in a square size as seen by the more observant and collective boys.

Sora Mizumoto's fashion taste was always top-notch. Nobody could find anything wrong with it as he wore the best, bought the best and looked his best.

"How are you, my little DJ?" He asked his sister with a sweet voice. It was deep and rich, easily capable of sending shivers down any other man's spine.

His sister pulled her head out of his body and looked up to him without loosening her grip, "I've been awesome! What about you, my man?" There comes that loose-screw personality making an appearance again.

The larger man smirked at her, raising a hand for a fist bump, "I've been great too, my dude." With that, both pulled away and gave each other a dramatic fist bump before everyone.

However, everyone was still too shocked to say anything. That is until Nekomata's coach cleared his throat and grabbed everyone's attention all around.

The senior man gave a gentle close-eyed smile before speaking, "As you all may know, that's Sora Mizumoto, the ace of the Japanese National team," the man gave everyone a smug wave, meeting eyes with anyone he could come across, "As he told me, he's on a four-month-long break from playing after winning the Australian Volleyball League with his team. So, I think you Karasuno players might take advantage of the fact that he'll be staying in Miyagi for a while." He winked at Ukai teasingly who sighed but smiled gratefully nonetheless.

The professional player turned to Nekomata and bowed respectfully before thanking him gratefully for what he said. The coach laughed at his words before replying, "Don't thank me, boy. I still see you like the little delinquent of Shiratorizawa who used to call me Mister Neko-sama." He reached over and grabbed him from ear, pulling him down and smacking him senseless on the head, emanating a wince from him. "I may be old but I haven't forgotten you pranking the Nekoma faculty room with two dozen stray cats."

The ace stiffened at his words before chuckling nervously and smiling hesitantly at the older man who had made him bent his figure towards him, "Heh, heh, I thought we got over that." He felt everyone's eyes on him which made him a hundred times nervous about being scolded and reminded of his teenage years.

"We haven't gotten over your pranks and clowning around the place, my son. I'll be speaking to you about it when you return to Nekoma for the extensive summer training camp," There was a threat in his voice that made the young man gulp loudly in fear, fearful of what Nekomata had in store for him.

He let him go after that, resulting in a loud sigh of relief coming out of his mouth as he turned back to his sister with a recovery smile who returned it despite her confusion towards whatever Nekomata said, "Ready to go, bro?"

Sora paused at that, smiling nervously once again, taking a hand behind his head and scratching it, "Heh, about that- can I go in the bus with you? I took a taxi to see you from Miyagi all the way to Tokyo."

Shrugging, she turned to Ukai and Takeda-sensei, "Coach and sensei, can my brother ride with us? He forgot his car back home." She received a nod from the smiling men which made her content because her brother will be riding the school bus with her!

Her brother sighed and turned to Bokuto and Kuroo with smirks, "Well then, boys. I'll be seeing you soon." Pointing his index and middle finger' at either both respectively with narrowed eyes, "I still expect you two to make it to the National team and playing beside me with two years."

"You got it, sir." They shared fist bumps before Sora turned to his smiling sister.

"Yo, bro. Meet my boys, the Karasuno volleyball team." He looked up to the ground of twelve boys staring at him in awe and shock, scaring him a tad bit. He leaned down and whispered to his sister.

"Hey, why are they staring at me like that?"

"Huh?" She turned to her friends and jumped back when they saw them really staring at her brother in wonder as if he were an awe-worthy creature, a rare bird on brink of extinction. Rana sighed at their behaviour before walking over to them, slapping them on the back one by one quickly, bringing them to reality.

"S-Sora Mizumoto is R-Rana's brother," Daichi whispered to himself, almost not believing it. Sugawara turned to his good friend and smiled in a guilty manner, rubbing the back of his head.

"MIZUMOTO-SAMA IS RANA'S BROTHER?!  WOAHH." Hinata broke the flood of fanboys who rushed to swarm around Sora who was taken aback and surprised to his core, trying to answer everyone's questions as much as he could. Boys like Asahi, Daichi, and Ennoshita nervously greeted him and called themselves their fans. Tsukishima did not react to him as much except offering a polite greeting. The entire talking and questioning was done by Tanaka, Nishinoya, Hinata and surprisingly to all, Kageyama. They were the most talkative of all, questioning him about things related to playing for the national, managing being so awesome on the court and real-life too.

Had Ukai not scolded them and commanded them to go inside the bus they would have made the frightened man sit there and answer their questions all the way into the night.

The boys and girls all got in their bus after Rana hugged Kuroo, Bokuto and Kenma goodbyes while waving the others and promising to meet them in the coming training camp. Everyone settled in their former respective seats while Rana took one of those paired seats since Hinata, Nishinoya and Tanaka were sitting with her brother. Her mouth was pulled in an irritated pout as she was grumbling to herself about the boys stealing her brother away while sitting next to a gloomy Kageyama, still rather disturbed over what took place between him and Hinata.

He wanted to take his mind off things that took place and his source of distraction sat next to him. Paying heed to all the questions that were already dancing in his head about Rana, he looked at the girl with a weighty stare, questioning her on spot.

"Rana." The girl turned to Kageyama with a raised eyebrow as if asking what he wanted.

"Why did you not tell us your brother is on the national team?"

She shrugged, dropping her previously held expressions and replied, "People have treated me differently when they learn about my father, mother and brother. They act as if I'm royalty so it's best no one knows I'm related to them."

"What do your mother and father do?"

"Oh, my dad owns the largest Japanese multinational company of hotel and resorts while my mum is a fashion designer," Kageyama could almost feel his eyes fall out of surprise. The girl was rich! It was no wonder she had the number of a pilot who drove a private jet for her father. It was a surprise that despite her background she stayed in Miyagi when she could easily afford a lavish lifestyle in Tokyo and somewhere outside of this nation.

"If you're thinking about why I don't live anywhere cool, it's because Miyagi is cool to me. I love Sendai, I love its fresh air, its nature and I love you all. I don't think I can leave. I was born here and I'd like to die here someday," She did not catch her own self admitting her loving them, but Kageyama did and so did Sugawara who sat next to them just an aisle away. The third-year setter could not stop the smile etching over his face, hearing her words and keeping it in contrast to what she said not four weeks ago.

Rana was changing and for her own good. He could not be more proud of that.

Kageyama nodded without saying anything more. Their conversation fell at that because he was too shy to say anything more than that. Rana took it as her cue to take a nap, propping up an elbow and putting her head on it, closing her eyes before travelling into her dream world while her brother had an interrogation session going on with three particular boys.

Minutes passed by and it was not long before Rana's head had slipped off her elbow and landed against Kageyama's arm, jolting him out of his slumber. He blushed furiously when he saw the girl's head pressed against his arm, but did not say anything when he realised her position might hurt her neck.

"You might hurt your head, Rana-b-boke," he uttered in artificial irritation before fixing her position and placing her head on his shoulder to help her sleep better. Not minutes later, Kageyama fell asleep by resting his head on top of hers without his own knowledge.

Seeing no response from his sister in saving him from this questioning session when he looked over in her direction expectedly, Sora sighed childishly with a pout before turning to Hinata to give him a tip on how to manage making it into the nationals despite of being short; not like he knew when he was a good six feet and above himself.

It was late at night and they had finally reached the school building as Takeda-sensei pulled the car to a halt, jolting everyone up from their sleep followed by a loud THUD! Everyone groggily looked behind them where the sound had come from to find Sora on the bus-floor, fast-sleep and curled up like a child. He had fallen asleep in Tanaka, Nishinoya, Hinata's lap while the other boys laid their heads on each other's shoulders in a sequence. It seemed the fall had awoken the trio but not the man who fell to the ground on the head himself.

"Sora-san!" The trio screamed in worry, attempting to shake him awake but it came to no avail. The young man was idle like a rock. His sleeping was dangerous because he never woke up.

Rana lifted herself off her seat with a blushing Kageyama by her side, stretching happily about the fact she slept well, completely ignoring the commotion the backseat was set in. She knew Sora had pulled some stupid shit to put everyone in worry, so it mattered not to her. He had it coming after not speaking to her throughout the ride nonetheless.

"SORA-SAMA IS NOT MOVING!"

'Sama?' she thought to herself, trying to stifle her laughter as her imagination put her lousy brother in a throne with a massive crown on his head. If he really were a king, his empire would end up being conquered by forces of neighbouring empires. Why? He would be letting others trample over him.

Giving a roll of eyes, she made away over to the man who was surrounded by even Coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei, all attempting to wake him but he had sworn not to wake up. He was a deep sleeper. He was the type to sleep through an eight-point zero magnitude earthquake and a world war without knowing what happened. It was worrisome at times for her family, but knowing he managed to wake up through a technique or two put them at ease and made things easier of all.

Pushing everyone aside, she kneeled before her brother next to a trio of comically sobbing boys, before raising her hand up in the air and landing the loudest slap across his face.

Everyone blinked slowly at what she just did without a second thought, some even wincing from the second-hand pain. It really was loud and hard, almost as hard as her spikes. They realised at that moment that whoever to get slapped by Rana is the most unlucky person alive.

In this very moment, her brother was that very unlucky person.

However, he groggily got up and scratched his head, turning to look at his bemused sister before smiling, "Thank you for waking me up, little Rana. Have we reached Miyagi?"

Oh brother.

 

They all stood outside of the bus, yawning with sleep collected in their eyes. The training camp followed by the trip had exhausted everyone to their core and all everyone required was a good night's sleep in their respective homes.

"I just wanted to inform you all tomorrow and on Monday, the gym will be closed down because of the inspection taking place in it, so all you should relax," Takeda-sensei announced to all with a gentle smile on his face. "You guys haven't gotten a break in a while, so you guys deserve it."

Rana looked around to see the faces of her teammates and some of them looked a little bemused by the news, so she turned to her brother with a hopeful face. He raised a sleepy eyebrow in confusion before shrugging as if not caring about what she meant; he was too sleepy to get whatever she was saying through her eyes.

Smiling at his lazy response, she walked over and stood before the Coach and Takeda-sensei, her back turned to them and front-facing her fellow players, "If anyone of you still feels like practising and doesn't want to take a break, you can come over to my house for practice!"

"Eh?"

Sora's eyes snapped open at her words, realising his little sister was inviting a bunch of boys over to practice. He straightened his slouching posture, taking intimidating steps towards his sister to stop her from inviting a bunch of boys to her house so casually, "Oi, Ra-"

But her words stopped him in his steps, "Yeah! We can practice at my place. We have a huge gym made for Sora and his visiting friends, so we can practice there!"

Tanaka raised his hands and began to wave them wildly in shock, "Ch-chotto mate! By Mizumoto-san's friends you mean-" He could not bring himself to complete the sentence so Nishinoya covered up for him.

"-His National Team friends?"

Before Sora could run over and tackle his sister to the ground in a wrestling move to prevent her from answering that, she had nodded happily, answering, "Yep! They come over to Miyagi from time to time during breaks and play together there!"

The national player gulped loudly in fear and uncertainty when he saw Nishinoya, Tanaka and Hinata raise their heads in unison with a fire burning in their eyes and around them; it was the fire of determination and Sora feared it more than Sadako and Kayako put together for him.

"WE ARE COMING TOMORROW!"

Rana clapped her hands together happily, pulling her phone out of pocket and turning over the boys, "I need everyone's numbers first so that I can form a groupchat of us players where I can text everyone the address in case anyone else intends to come."

Everyone with the exception of Tsukishima and Yamaguchi pulled their own phones out and stood in a round circle with Rana, exchanging numbers quickly and excitedly. They would finally have their own groupchat where they could talk and have collective conversations in! It was a surprise no one thought of it earlier, but it would be formed now nonetheless and that is all that mattered.

After almost everyone gave her their numbers, she formed a group quickly with all the players in it, naming it 'KARASUNO FLY!' with a flying crow emoji next to it. Smiling at the phone, she began to quickly type the first message in it.

'Hi, birdies! I'm typing up my address rn. It's xx-xxx at the end of the street xx-xx'

A text was quickly followed by that,

Shouyou Hinata: thank u rana :D

She looked up from her phone, sliding it back into her pocket before speaking up, "Great! I'll speak to you guys tomorrow during practice then. Goodnight, guys, Coach and Takeda-sensei!" With goodnights reciprocated, Rana grabbed her sleepy and thoroughly exhausted brother before walking into the silent night.

"I don't like the idea of boys coming to our house for you, Rana," her brother declared irritatingly when they were far from the school and the boys' hearing range.

"You never minded Kuroo, Kenma and Bokuto coming over," she sassed with her eyes closed and arms folded over her chest haughtily.

Sora threw his hands dramatically in the air before replying, "Because Kenma is too aromantic like me to make a move, and the other two idiots would never make advances towards you either, I taught them of the consequences when I was a teenager." He replayed the frightful faces of the two boys on that day where he dragged them into his bedroom, teaching them with a proper demonstration on what would happen to their bodies should they dare make even tiny bit skin-to-skin contact with his little sister. He began to laugh evilly inside at the fact he scared the boys good.

"Oh really? Well, Kuroo hugged me when I met him and Bokuto was on top of me while hugging me!"

Sora's entire figure froze in its place, one leg in the air from the time he intended to take another step. He turned a grey-stone colour, eyes lifeless and void of a pupil from what he heard. Rana turned around, seeing the stoned body of her brother. She tried to stifle her laughter at his position, but as a master of drama and acting in her family, she managed to keep a serious face at it. This was the perfect time to tease him even more.

Placing a hand on her chin in fake pretence, "Come to think of it, I sat in his lap when hugging him after winning against his team today. We all also hugged when you went inside the bus."

The stony exterior suddenly cracked with those words and his body was surrounded by a fiery aura, the green in his eyes replaced with a burning flame in his eyes, "Y-you did w-what?"

'Oh shit,' she cursed inside her head seeing the fires dance around him in unleashed fury. Taking nervous steps back, a nervous chuckle escaped her mouth which made the situation worse.

"H-heh, it w-was nothing s-serious, right?" There was no one to back up her words at that moment. This was definitely worse than the day of judgment. She needed to just run but her legs lost all their stamina and energy seeing  Sora's approaching figure.

Before she knew it Rana was nailed to the ground with a loud thud. She was on her stomach with her brother sitting on her back; he had both of her hands in his grasp, pinned right behind her, making her whine as she tried to trash around but all of it came to no avail.

"Hugged by Kuroo and Bokuto? Good thing I have time to plan their execution so torturous even the Medieval folks will be put to shame. You, young lady, who dared to return their affections when they're neither your father or brothers? I'm calling the priest and baptizing your sinful body," she heard loudly tapping of what sounded like numbers before a ring went off in the air. When she realised her brother was being genuine about baptizing her, her trashing became worse and she started to scream in help. Only a second after she began to scream, she felt a hand pressed on her mouth to shut her up.

Her brother was using both hands to keep her still and silent while using his shoulder to keep the phone pressed against his ear. He was delighted when the phone was picked up, "Hello, Father Jackson? Yes, it's me, Sora Mizumoto who you met in Australia- yes that Sora, haha. I hope we're over what happened, heh- Yes, I called you because I want to baptise a certain someone. They've committed great sins and I would appreciate cleansing their body and sou-!" He was cut off by two loud smacks that emanated throughout the place as the phone dropped to the ground and the heavy body of Sora fell on top of Rana whose head had a large bump from a similar below that caused him to pass out. Just as his head hit her's with a loud  ** _THUNK_**!, she fell into the same state of unconsciousness as her older brother, eyes shutting with the impact.

"I leave you two disgraces alone for a day and this is what you do? Maybe I should have removed my uterus before marrying your father," The angry voice spoke at the two fainted figures laying on top of each other like a pile their faces in 'XP' emoticon.

The woman picked up the phone laying on the ground with a worried priest on the line. Taking a deep breath, she pressed it to her ear and started, "Sorry, father. Forgive my son for his stupidity- no it's okay! He was born with an underdeveloped brain according to my hypothesis- oh thank you! I will speak to you another time. Thank you father; I wish you a good day."

She slid the phone inside her pocket and took another look at her fallen children with a shaking head. Leaning down, she pushed one off the other and grabbed both from the collars in different hands.

"I can't believe I'm still doing this when one is an adult and the other one is going to turn into one," breathing out in embarrassment, she began to drag their chibi versions behind her into the night.

 


	16. Chapter 16

Rana awoke at six of the morning, ripping the alabaster sheets she had been tangled in off her body and rushing over to the bathroom to ready herself with a shower and the regular things. Upon getting done with it all, she opened up the cupboard within her mirror and pulled out a bottle of her prescription pills, tossing two into her mouth without drinking any water.

Standing before the mirror with the towel wrapped around her figure, she quickly dried her hair and walked over to her massive closet and pulled out a pair of shorts with a plain white shirt whose sleeves went up to her elbows. Pulling on a black bra with similar shade boxers and putting her clothes on over them, she sat over her bed and blow-dried her hair quickly to ready herself for today's practice. Once done, Rana pulled them in a side-high ponytail.

Raising off her bed, she examined herself in a mirror and frowned when she realised something is missing. Her neck looked bare with the v-neck plain shirt and it disturbed her a little. She quickly opened up the drawer next to the mirror and pulled out a plain chocker and wore it around her neck. Satisfied with her appearance, Rana made a run downstairs, her phone and headphones clutched tightly in her grip.

Her family was seated around the kitchen island when she arrived. Sora's head was slumped against the marbled island before his toast and omelette while her father casually munched on his favourite cereal dumped in milk. Her mother was having toast with butter while the twins were eating cereal similar to their father.

She waved a 'morning' excitedly to her father which they reciprocated with less enthusiasm due to sleep evading their senses. Rana did not mind it as much because she was used to it. Her mother had put up her toast and omelette similar to Sora, so she sat next to her older brother and began to gobble down on her breakfast while he continued to sleep, snoring loudly.

Once done, she got off her stool and landed a massive chop on her brother's head, "WAKE UP, SLEEPY HEAD!" before running out of the house, hearing the distant screams and curses of her brother followed by a loud smack that shook the entire house, making her wince in second-hand pain. She almost felt bad for her brother who experienced abuse from their mother again.

"We will miss you dearly, dear brother o' mine," she whispered dramatically to herself with eyes closed and hand pressed to her chest where her heart was.

After a minute of silence for her fallen brother, she smiled widely and skipped over to their gym with headphones on, Chase Atlantic song blasting in her ears. Swaying her hips side to side to the beat, Rana slid the doors open without much effort, welcoming the scent of polished wood with her nose. A smile overcame her face despite the sudden anxiety filling up her lungs, making it harder for her to breathe.

It had been three years since she last visited this gymnasium.

Three years ago, she was someone she is not today, no. Years ago, she was trapped in a cage whose keys had been lost to the darkness of all the times, incapable of getting out of bars so fierce, they wounded her hands each time she dared to wrap her fingers around it; every touch burnt at her lungs and was slowly killing her. Today, she was was free, released out of the cage but kept in shackles permitting her to fly just as much as they could stretch. The tiniest tugs of the chains enclosing around her legs brought her pain of the past, what could easily kill her.

But she deserved it all. After all, the world learned their lesson of letting a beast out and allowing to move around on its own. It didn't deserve freedom and truthfully, it did not deem itself worthy of that anymore either.

Flicking all lights on inside the gym, Rana began to walk slowly through the place comprising of double courts; one her father had constructed for Sora and the other for her. The wood was well-polished and waxed even though her brother had not played here in almost six months; her father had been calling a man to maintain it from time to time it seemed. As she surveyed the grounds, her eyes fell on the four poles stood all by their lonesome, without any net connecting a pair. Without a second thought, Rana made a run over to the small store they had constructed alongside it where they kept all the equipment that was bought and replaced from time to time.

Opening its doors with much excitement and flipping on the light-switch, she surveyed the entirety of the small room in search of the nets. Once she saw the pair of nets leaning against the cupboard comprising of elbow and knee pads, volleyballs and other equipment, her hands moved and snatched both of them along with two pairs of pads.

Just as the door was slam shut behind the storeroom, the song on her playlist changed into 'Oh no!' by Marina and the Diamonds, making her smile because this was her song from her edgy teenager days. It was one song she still believes genuinely represented her and how she felt without all the acting she had on for the world for the past months until it became something part of her.

" _I know exactly what I want and who I want to be. I know exactly why I walk and talk like a machine_ ," she sang for no one in particular while putting on her knee and elbow pads, shaking her head from side to side to the rhythm.

Standing off the ground, Rana stretched one hand forward and pressed a clenched one against her chest, eyes scrunched closed as if pretending to be in pain, " _I'm now becoming my own self-fulfilled prophecy. Oh_!" she struck one dramatic pose with her hands pressed to her mouth now, " _Oh no! Oh no! Oh no_!"

She straightened her posture and picked both nets up, walking over to the first of the two pair of poles while singing the song to herself, " _One track mind, one track heart. If I fail, I'll fall apart. Maybe it is all a test 'cause I feel like the worst so I always act like I'm the best_!"

With a sigh, Rana's voice completely dropped, letting the music touch her heart instead. The song was too close to her despite the years that passed, hitting home all too many times. Every lyric appealed to her, spoke of her and brought her out to the world naked. She hated it yet she could not bring herself to stop listening to it from time to time; it was her reality check and a reminder to her of who she was through and through.

' _I'm gonna live, I'm gonna fly. I'm gonna fail, I'm gonna die. I'm gonna live, I'm gonna fly. I'm gonna fail, I'm gonna die, die, die_!' As much as she love-hated this song, this part somehow pained her the most because it succeeded in describing her everyday mindset all too well. It was either living and flying or failing and dying internally. Rana was anything but suicidal, but when her self-destructive mental breakdowns struck, she had a tendency to do things that would ultimately pose a threat to her life. What happened in school was nothing to what she did almost six months ago when they were in Thailand, trying to enjoy their vacations. The night had scared the entire family to tears when they found her at the bottom of their hotel's pool, not breathing.

They had to take her to the hospital to bring her back to 'life' because she was almost dead. After waking up, she was questioned by the police and family what led to her being at the bottom of the pool; her answer was that she wanted to do something other than just punch and destroy walls, causing financial troubles, anymore. No one in the room missed her saying, "I wish you guys had never pulled me out." to herself. They heard it and that was what led to her getting put in therapy for the ninth time since the incident.

But according to her now, the past was in the past and she could do nothing about it.

Struggling to put the net on by herself with her mind suddenly clouded by thoughts that worsened her anxiety, Rana groaned loudly and pressed her head against the pole in order to concentrate and collect herself. She began to take deep breaths with hopes she'd feel calmer. Talking with people at all times made her feel calmer because she would not be in the company of her mind which was no lesser than her foe. She hated being alone because her head continually reminded her of what happened so long ago, torturing to the point she would start to self-destruct all over again.

Out of nowhere, she felt someone place their hand on her head, pulling her out of the clutches of her perilous thoughts. Rana quickly tapped her headphones off and looked up, finding her brother smiling down to her gently.

"Oi, baka. Don't listen to music so loudly, you'll actually damage your ear-drums," He scolded her lightly, pulling out the earphones from her ears and throwing them into his pockets even though the girl was attempting to reach for them childishly.

"They're mine!" she whined.

He cocked an eyebrow at her, putting both hands on his hips and answering her sassily, "I got them for you on your last birthday, so I can confiscate them too. And besides," He dropped his hands and smirked at her, "Dad installed speakers in the court last month for your sake. Why don't we take advantage of that?"

His words pulled her lips into a huge smile, remembering how her eyes fell on the gigantic speakers placed in all four corners of the massive gym, as she motioned him to turn them on while she would connect them to her phone. She finally remembered her father telling her over the dinner about it excitedly, but then Rana could have paid attention since she was occupied in texting an old friend, paying no heed to her old man who was left sobbing comically at the end of his rant about the cool invention. Back then, she had little intention of visiting this gymnasium anyways.

They had one system as her father had explained, so connecting one would mean all of them are connected. Her brother took a turn all around the gym, plugging them on one by one excitedly. He ran up to her and gave her a thumbs-up, implying he was done with his job. Giving him an excited nod, she turned her phone on and quickly connected it to the popping 'Speaker(s)' under Bluetooth's name. She tapped on it and quickly connected her phone to it.

Jumping onto the music app, Rana quickly went on her 'work-out' playlist and played the first song on shuffle.

Loud drum-beats echoed throughout the room, surprising the duo at how loud it was as the girl quickly lowered the volume to a tolerable range. The song soon became familiar to Sora who turned to his sister with an affirmative smirk, "Really?  _Really_?"

She threw a wink at him, "I may do rap music remixes and sell them on the internet, but nothing can beat Fall Out Boy even in this era for me."

He nodded in satisfaction before asking her, "So, do you wanna do some warm-up stretches and drills with me? Coach's been teaching us some new and hardcore ones to take us back to gold."

Rana nodded excitedly at her brother, "Sure thing, man. But wait, why aren't you dressed up for it?"

"Because I won't be doing it?"

"Yes, you will."

It was safe to say that Sora miserably lost the argument and went grumbling about 'not even being free of this curse at home' inside the house to change into a plain black shirt and shorts with joggers. He added the elbow and knee-pads to his look.

"Are you happy now, ma'am?" He asked sarcastically, folding his arms over his chest and looking over at his sister with a pout on his face. The shirt and shorts put his biceps and magnificent thigh muscles at the display. He had tucked the silver necklace inside his shirt so that it would not distract him during the drill like he tended to do during official games as well. That silver necklace meant the world to him and he would not take it off for anything in this world, and after a while his Coach got the signal, completely shutting up about his complains regarding the necklace.

She giggled behind her hand and nodded, "Yup, yup! Let's get on to i-" her words were stopped within the mouth as another Fall Out Boy song began to blast through the speakers, but this particular one was much different than the previous one in their lives.

It was Phoenix. It was the same song that she and her brother shared and loved terribly when they were younger. Rana was not an open child in school and preferred staying quiet in the crowds of many, but at home, her brother always helped her in acting more open despite his own stoic personality. He would encourage her to do silly things with him to aid her self-confidence and open up to him at least. This was one of the few songs she had openly danced with him to in a frivolous manner without any worries, hence why it meant so much to her.

Rana turned to Sora with a gleaming face before singing along, " _You are a brick tied to me that's dragging me down_ _._ _Strike a match and I'll burn you to the ground We are the jack-o-lanterns in July Setting fire to the sky. Here, here comes this rising tide so come on._ " Her face fell seeing her brother wasn't singing along to her but looked almost irritated like he was implying he was too old for what they did when they were younger. But then, Rana never cared about people not being into things she liked. Dropping the sadness from her face within a nanosecond, she started to slam her foot on the wood with the beat, skipping along with a hand raised to her chest.

She continued to sing, swirling in the middle of the gym with much excitement, without paying any sort of heed to the world around her.

Rana stopped in the middle of dance-show when she heard a deep voice behind her sing along to Pete's rather softly, " _So we can take the world back from the heart-attacked. One maniac at a time we will take it back._ " Her head turned in his direction where he was smiling softly in nostalgia. His eyes were tender in memories of those times they spent together, acting idiotically as if the world were their stage and them, the loyal performers.

Turning herself to him, she smiled widely before singing the other part, just as she always did, feet thumping against the wooden floor, " _You know time crawls on when you're waiting for the song to start. So dance along to the beat of your heart._ "

The duo pointed their index fingers of either one hands at each other, their arms stretched ahead before beginning to shout the chorus on top of their lungs, " _Hey_ _,_ _Youngblood doesn't it feel like our time is running out. I'm going to change you like a remix. Then I'll raise you like a phoenix!_ " The duo raised their hands up into the air, faces looking at the ceiling with wide grins spread over their faces as they sang to the phoenix part, performing each step they had learned childishly to this song when they were young. As the guitar went off, they began to move their heads to the beat, swaying their hips side to side, striking poses that an icon would.

The Mizumoto siblings continued to sing their respective parts as they did formerly, acting like they were performing in a concert before a crowd of millions until the chorus before they united their voices again with Sora standing opposite to her in his imaginary lane. He ran towards her before getting bucking his knees underneath him, getting on them and sliding off to the other side, playing an imaginary guitar in his grasp with his tongue sticking out in the most stereotypical 'rockstar' pose ever. He took a hand and ran his fingers into his hair to lazily remove it off his face which only made it messier and drop it over his face more, but it was not like he minded it. He only smiled wider, exposing his sharp canines as he bobbed his head back and forth to the song.  
  


Rana on the other was simply dancing to it, moving her hips, pushing her backside out and attempting to dance like a professional choreographer with her hands pulling unique poses to enhance her imaginary modelling shots before the camera.

What neither of them saw were the wide-eyed libero, ace, bald wing-spiker, defence specialist and a particular setter who had opened the doors to the sight, watching the two siblings act like they were on a music idol anime.

When Sora threw his head completely back with his legs folded beneath him, only then did he see the upside-down trembling and shocked figures of the boys on his sister's club, red spread over their faces in embarrassment. With speed faster than flash, he got up and turned glaringly while gritting teeth at his sister who was still deep into the music to notice the boys watching her shake her hips like a courtesan in an Emperor's court.

It was a good thing the song came to a halt that awoke Rana from her trance as she looked around to find her flustered teammates standing at the door with their jaws dropped and her brother whose arms were crossed against his chest, a scowl on his face.

He turned away from her and began to take intimidating steps towards her teammates who began to take walk back, petrified, from the fiery aura radiating off Sora's body. They could see how his green eyes turned into slits and face contorted into a very deep frown.

"If I hear any of you mention what me and Rana were doing, I'm going to hang all of you upside down from your ankles, take a huge saw and-" the following words were muffled by Rana's hand pressed against his mouth as she was on her toes to wrap a hand around his mouth to keep him from completing that horrifying sentence before all these children. It was a struggle because she had not balanced herself on her toes in a while but she still managed to shut him up, so it was a safe success. It was a good thing she possessed almost the same level of strength as her brother that provided immense aid in keeping her hand pressed against his mouth even though he was trying to pry it off.

Once he rose his hands in surrender to accept his defeat against his sister, both pulled away from each other and turned to the group of confused boys that grew larger in number ever since the events of the dance unfolded. Their eyes were comically wide, surprised seeing a National Team player act so childishly before them. They all had seen the great Sora on the television, looking more than serious during the games; the man smiled not even after winning a match. He did not dare lift the corners of his lips in any photo with his team despite the medals decorating his neck. It did not help he was a very private man; they all had heard about him having a younger he loved dearly as he mentioned in an interview, but he spoke nothing else besides that due to his extreme level of privacy in case of his personal life.

Come to think of it, some also recall him skipping on a training camp in the United States for personal reasons affiliated to a family member nearly four years ago. It stirred a huge controversy in Japan about the, then, rising star's professionalism but everything turned to normal when he returned after a month so no one questioned him about it.

The siblings escorted her friends inside with Rana smiling politely seeing her teammates over who were shocked at how massive this gym was for a non-commercial one. "This place is so huge!" Tanaka could not stop himself awing the magnificence of this building, seeing it had perfectly polished wooden walls and floors, the was tomb constructed out of steel. Further along, there was a storeroom was available too! They really were rich.

The boys who were now Sugawara, Daichi, Asahi, Nishinoya, Tanaka, Yamaguchi, Tsukishima (much to all's surprise), Ennoshita, Narita, Kinoshita all stood in a line before Sora and Rana, who looked rather surprised, before bowing down respectfully, "Thank you for letting us play here!"

Their politeness surprised the older National Team player, taking his hand behind his neck a little shyly before replying, "There's no problem at all. Anyways, explain to me your situation now."

Rana snapped a finger after all stood straight, getting on to the explanation, "There's Spring Interhigh tournament coming as I told you and we want to go to the Nationals, but for that, we need to win against teams like Aoba Johsai and Shiratorizawa." Her shoulders fell a little upon uttering the latter team's name, knowing their strengths all too well.

Sora's eyes gleamed a little from excitement, "Shiratorizawa? It's been a while I've kept up with them, how are they doing now?" His sudden happiness confused the boys, listening more intently.

"They reached the Nationals during the Fall Interhigh and came eighth in the entirety of Japan."

He threw his head back and laughed, "Ah, that's just awesome. I miss them. It was fun winning the Nationals when I was in third year with them; though I am disappointed they came Eighth." At the end of his sentence, he slightly shrugged, not caring anymore. Oh, but the younger boys did care.

"You were in Shiratorizawa in high school?!"

"And won the Nationals?!"

Sora nodded in affirmation, "Yeah. I studied in Shiratorizawa after moving to Miyagi and won the Nationals with them in my third-year after going there four times before. Kind of a nice goodbye gift to them, don't you think?

"Anyways, after I left Karasuno won against them and made it to the National which was disappointing but oh well; not my concern after getting scouted." He did not care much for the team or academy because of his rocky relationship with the coach who happened to be unimaginably cruel towards his sister. Sora threatened to leave the team and go to Karasuno or Seijoh if he did not stop taunting his sister for her height and the fact that she made it as a captain of the Girls' Junior team by the wishes of her respective coach and teammates. It's safe to say he ceased mocking her after that.

Even aside from all this ruckus that took place, Sora just did not like the place; he was forced into suffering by someone he cared for; just the memories of what took place in the second year of high-school sent his heart dropping resoundingly into his stomach every time.

He hated it. He hated it so much. He hated heartbreak and that's what he had to endure in that place.

Not that anyone needed to know or detect on his face as he kept his neutral face before the boys and especially his little sister.   
  
  
  
  
  


The boys were not as surprised as they had initially been with this new information; Sora Mizumoto looked like a player from Shiratorizawa. He had the height, the persona and everything that gave 'Shiratorizawa player' vibes according to the infamous stereotype about them. However, it was also evident he did not like the Academy with his nonchalant behaviour towards their loss.

"It's a win against Shirtatorizawa and Aoba Johsai that you want? Alright, I'll teach you guys good tricks that we learned while on the National team."

All of the boys turned to each other excitedly with Noya and Tanaka exchanging high-fives before they bowed respectfully, thanking the twenty-two-year-old who became flustered at their gesture again, waving his hands to ask them to stand straight.

Rana decided to cut into the chaos with her chirpy voice, "Anyways, we were going to perform drills and warm-up exercises that your coach newly taught, yeah? Let's do it all together!"

The oldest of the males in the room quickly rose higher than he already was given his height, making a cross sign with his arms and began to shake his head in disagreement, "No no no! I'm not performing those drills with other-" His words were eaten when he saw the puppy-like pout his sister was giving him. He could NEVER resist that; it was his biggest weakness and everyone knew how to make her use that against him to get what they want from the so-called 'stoic' pride of Japan.

He sighed and motioned her to stand next to the line of boys to which she quickly obliged and stood next to Tsukishima. Sora placed both hands on his hips and eyed every boy carefully, "What we all will be doing first are stretches; I'll be guiding you along that. Then each one of you is doing fifteen jump serves. We're doing ten-minute long diving laps on the group and blocking turns. Then we're practising spikes and defence skills of you all. This is only a quarter of the drills Coach makes us perform, but you're still young and not used to it so I've shortened it for you all. Got that?"

It sounded about exhausting but they did not let it overpower their determination to reach the nations as they all nodded in agreement, "Ossu!"

Sora could not help the smile that came on his face seeing how determined and willing they looked to follow him. It almost reminded him of his days as the Captain of the Shiratorizawa team. What pleased and worried him more than anything was how pumped his sister looked next to her new team, looking at her friends in excitement and determination; he was pleased to see her look so spirited...happy and content with them, but he was worried due to her mental health.

-

"Okay- I'm really tired."

"Me too."

"Me three."

"Me fou-"

"Shut up, you guys barely did anything and are already tired?! Get your asses off the ground, we're playing having a match now!"

Rana grumbled angrily and got off the ground followed by Narita, Kinoshita and Yamaguchi, all of them thoroughly exhausted after completing the drill almost successfully. The twenty-two-year-old was pressurising the particular group more than anyone because they were being lazier than the rest of the boys who did not appear to be minding it at all, especially the libero who wanted to do even more; it was not like that particular group wasn't enjoying it, no. They just felt a little lousy after the stretches that made them feel like they hadn't cracked a bone or two in place for decades, and that alone made them wearier than the rest.

The music continued blaze from the speakers which helped pump adrenaline into their veins much avidly. The group of eleven stood in a line before the stern and narrow-eyed Sora Mizumoto who had his arms folded, making his toned muscles bulge out more, adding onto his intimidating appearance.

"All of you tell me your names and positions one by one so that we can make teams. I just realised I know none of your names properly yet." Rana opened her mouth to make fun of his forgetful behaviour but quickly shut it when she saw the terrifying glare he sent her way, already aware of the type of nonsense she'd throw out of her mouth, making her cower behind while trying to push a confused Tsukishima in front of her. Daichi started with his name and mentioned the positions he plays and there on everyone began to state their names and what role they play on the court.

He nodded firmly after everyone, including his sister, finished introducing themselves to him, his mind a little confused because he knew two particular people were missing at the very moment, "Where are that hyper shorty ginger-head and blueberry tsundere?" Tsukishima could not prevent himself from snickering at the nicknames he gave the duo as the others smiled at the accurately given names to the absent duo.

"You mean Hinata and Kageyama?" Sugawara asked, the only one bothering to hold himself from smiling at the two idiots who did not come.

Rana began to think hard for a minute before her eyes widened in surprise before she snapped her finger in realisation, "Wait, those two didn't come today! Why is that?" Some of the boys could not stop the dead-panned expression that naturally overcame their faces when she uttered those words. Did she not apprehend the fact that two prominent members of the team were missing this entire time until now?

Everyone turned to Tanaka to explain things to the duo after he had done so to the rest of the boys on the way, "Hinata and Kageyama got into a fight last night, so I don't think they would be coming to someplace where they have to be together." He was a little sad given his gloomy tone, surprising Rana by a notch who also turned a little glum, grasping her good friends had gotten into an argument without her awareness.

"Oh." Her eyebrows furrowed in melancholy as all the happiness and cheery excitement from her face dropped dramatically. She was never one to enjoy fighting between close friends; after being witness to many throughout her life, Rana had come to hate them more than anything because such fights negatively affected her emotions and mood more than the people who had gotten into a quarrel. Dropping her head in silence, she tried to hide her sadness at those words but only failed miserably because her brother caught it before she even uttered the mumming 'Oh'.

"Oi, baka." His deep commanding voice called onto her, but she did not raise her head. They would see her frown that she could not bring herself to remove at that moment since her emotional side easily conquered the rational one in this very moment. The fight between the blue-orange duo was serious enough for both of them not come over to her house and play together, and that hurt her more than anything. Hinata was excited to come much like Kageyama even though he did not show it outwardly in everyone's presence; they could have been enjoying their matches together today, but no. Anger has to make one commit actions that always ruin everything.

Just like it made her do things that destroyed her inside out.

After a while she felt fingers pressed on either side of the cheek, making her look up. Her formerly downcast eyes were met with her brother's who was the culprit behind the physical touch, smiling down at her with mellowness melting his formerly hard gaze. Her cheeks were soft and a little fat which made her look like a chubby duck with his fingers pushing them out. He could not resist cooing at how cute his sister looked, "Stop frowning. People fight; it's part of life and a way to understand the other better. Now cheer up, my wittle cutie Rana."

The way he cooed and held her face up to him sent Tsukishima into snickers once again before mocking at the girl lightly, "wittle cutie Rana" imitating the older male who landed a karate chop right on the boy's head, emitting a wince from him.

"You don't get to mock my cutie Rana, that's a privilege God only granted me after she was born," he spoke with much pride laced in his tone. The younger sister was giving him a deadpanned look even though he was still holding her face up like that. When he noticed her giving him attitude, he took the same hand and landed a similar chop right over her head. "You don't get to act like this with me, little missy." Pressing his fingers tightly against her cheeks in a scolding manner, he let her go and walked back to face the team again.

"So, since Hinata and Kageyama are not around and we're running low on players for a proper match, I'll be playing alongside you." Tanaka, Rana and Nishinoya's eyes began glimmering stars out of happiness, the male duo was happy because a professional player would be playing with them and the female was happy due to her brother finally playing with her after almost four years.

He sighed at the sight of the starry-eyed trio looking at him as if he were the spoke Messiah and began to announce loudly, "It's between Team A and Team B. Team A will be standing here-" he pointed to his left, "-and Team B will be standing here-" he then moved his arm to his right. "Team A will consist of Sugawara, Daichi, Tanaka, Asahi, Nishinoya and Narita. While Team B will have Yamaguchi, Kinoshita, Ennoshita, Tsukishima, Rana and me."

Nishinoya's happiness was touching the seven skies knowing that he would be playing against the Sora Mizumoto today much like the rest. He looked over to everyone and announced an additional thing, "I will be the setter while Yamaguchi will be receiving as a libero," he turned over to the mentioned boy and spoke to him, "I've noticed your receives to be weak, so I want you to work on those, okay?" When he got a nervous but determined nod from the boy, he gave him a polite smile before turning back to the boys and girl, "I'll also be refereeing the match while playing, so don't worry about remembering the scores and everything. I can manage that." 

They nodded excitedly before flooding the court to the right with Sora, Rana and Yamaguchi standing in the back with each other while the rest took the front. Sugawara from the opposing court did a jump serve, initiating the game.

It was received quickly by Sora who threw it as a chance ball into the other side of the court, taken by Daichi and throw over to Sugawara. He tossed it to Asahi who ran towards the frontlines to spike it. Despite Narita's attempt, the ball ended up hitting the ball on their side.

Sora clapped loudly for Asahi, "Good job, Asahi. I would like you to work on your speed and moves a little more. You need to be less predictable because I could see where you were going to hit before the ball even touched your hands. Middle-blockers, listen up!" Tsukishima, the slightly sullen Narita and Yamaguchi looked over to the man, "Before running aimlessly to block a ball, observed the setter's body before they give a toss. Watch their hips and where they'll be facing, watch their shoulders, watch where their shoulders and hips are facing because that's where they'll be tossing the ball." He received firm nods from all the boys, including Tsukishima who was bemused until now.

The ball was served by Daichi this time which was caught by Ennoshita who threw it over to a running Rana. Standing in front, she turned her upper figure to her right, giving a hard quick toss to Sora. The man had run simultaneously with his sister and he was already in the air when the ball was thrown at him, slapping the ball harshly against the opposite court.

They all stood back in surprise seeing how harshly the ball sounded off their court and bounced elsewhere. It was a much harsher and powerful spike than Rana's, almost merciless towards anyone standing before it. All of them had seen the spike on the television live, but becoming a witness to it in real-life was an experience of its own. It was magnificent. The man's jump was high and petrifying, his spike even more.

Sora Mizumoto was an enigma and there was no denying something like that.

"S-Sugoi!" Tanaka complimented loudly, his lips etching into a massive smile. The man smiled at the boy before turning to his giddy hyper sister who jumped up in the air to give him a high-five, which he returned with similar enthusiasm.

"Maaan, that was so hella awesome! I just felt that spike in my soul, man!" She smacked a fist against her chest, where the heart, was hardly to emphasise on how deeply it was.

"I'm glad you did, Rana. Also, don't smack your heart so hard, you'll hurt yourself! You aren't hurting, are you?" He began to fret over his sister in worry, but she only laughed, assuring him she was only feeling better. Once, he was properly assured, he turned to the team with a smile.

"The game has just begun. Let's waltz, everyone!" For a second there, they all taught he was the most normal one out of the two, but the phrasing just reminded them that he happened to share blood with the girl who had all too many loose screws up there.

 

* * *

 

Daichi wiped a drop of sweat off his forehead as his eyes stared intently at the other side of the court to the duo siblings giving loop-sided toothy grins with their hands pressed on their knees and looking at an exhausted Asahi who found it hard keeping up with the two who continually blocked his balls together alongside Yamaguchi, Narita and Tsukishima. He really was predictable as they said, something he had to improve.

"Score of the second set is sixteen to twenty-four in favour of Team B!" Sora announced loudly, turning to his sister with a smile before giving her a fist bump.

Sora Mizumoto was an out of the world player; that's all they could say about this man. He was powerful, quick-witted and a smart player. He knew how to manage and guide his team while giving notes to the other side too to enhance their playing. It almost came off as a surprise to know he was a vice-captain instead of the captain of the National Team; they could not think of anyone better than him when it comes to leading. His speed, agility and stamina were far more than Rana's who looked up to her brother as they realised along with the game.

Whenever she'd do a spike from Tsukishima, Ennoshita or any player, with exception of Sora, toss she would excitedly turn to him for approval with happiness. Being a good brother as they all learned, he would ruffle her hair and compliment her. It was almost as if she needed his acceptance for every single spike, every toss, every block and every receive, some of which she still missed; his approval meant the world to her as it proved to be her source of happiness.

Quite funnily to them, Sora had chosen to be the setter yet he was doing anything but set balls for any of them, especially Rana who was spiking other's tosses. It was confusing the opposite side of the team but deemed it something to take advantage of. And so, Daichi huddled them together for a time-out, discussing strategies.

While they were coming up with a plan, Rana was attempting to raise Tsukishima's hands for her to high-five but failing miserably because he was teasingly resisting without showing it on the outside. She was gripping his upper arms and trying to put them up but her hard-work was coming to no avail.

She had high-fived everyone on the team including Yamaguchi who was a little shy about it but gave her one nonetheless, and she had no plans to leave the tall bastard without a high-five. "Give me a high-five, Tsukishima!"

"No."

"Pleaseee!"

"No,

"TSUKISHIMAAAA, GIVE ME A HIGH-FIVE ALREADY!"

"Nope."

Rana stood back and folded her arms on her chest angrily, "Meanie, Tsukishima! Meanie, meanie!" Tears began to bubble under her eyes and the girl was already hiccupping, throwing the entire team into a panic. Sora was rubbing his temples in irritation.

"You're going to make your senpai, who is a girl, cry like that, Tsukishima?!" Tanaka hollered from the other side.

"That's awful of you!"

"Boo, Kei!"

He rolled his eyes irritatingly before raising both of his hands for the girl. When she saw that, her tears suddenly stopped, getting animatedly absorbed by her eyes and she completely ceased her hiccups as a large smile came over the gleaming face. She raised her hands and slapped both hands against his before doing what surprised everyone in the room.

Rana had engulfed the boy into a massive hug, pressing the side of her head against his chest because that's just how far she reached him. Tsukishima could not hide his own surprise at her actions because the past two months she made no such approach towards him; he had seen her act physically affectionate towards everyone else on the team but her interaction was not like that with him. Today, however, she could mark him off on the list of 'teammates I have not hugged'.

Sora's irritation was washed off and replaced with rage as his eye began to twitch with a red anger mark appearing over the side of his head. She dared to hug a boy in front of his very eyes! In front of him out of all the people in the world!

Tanaka and Nishinoya saw the burning fire in the man's eyes and how he raised a leg to walk over towards the duo. They left worriedly their post and rushed over to grab him from either arm, "Sora-san! Please exercise control! They're children!"

"Let me go, brothers! It's time to burn her on the stake along with that lamp-post!" He was doing his best to resist, but Tanaka and Nishonoya were just as resilient, protecting their kouhai and good friend from the wrath of the great Sora Mizumoto.

Until then, Rana had pulled away from the surprised boy and given him a peace sign, "I like you when you're nice, Tsukki!" Her lips were pulled in a feminine smile at the boy as she tilted her head shyly before turning around to skipping over to her brother, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

Tsukishima had Yamaguchi approach him with a surprised face, "Tsukki, she hugged you too!" As the pinch server observed his friend's face, he realised something else.

"Tsukki, your ears are red!"

 

* * *

 

 

The time-out ended and the fire-breathing dragon known as Sora Mizumoto was standing next to his sister, huffing and puffing like an animal, still not over what happened. His sister was happy, but boy he was not.

The opposing team had full intention of taking advantage of the distracted Sora as Asahi did a jump-serve from the back, landing the ball harshly against Yamaguchi's entwined hands, who accidentally send it over to Sora who caught it for a toss. "Gomenasai, Sora-san!" He did not intend to give it to him but someone standing in front rather.

"It's okay!" He answered the boy before screaming on top of his lungs, "RANA!" it was an awful and unprofessional signal that he gave his sister because three blockers stood to the left side of the court, where his hands were pointed and where Rana had run-up to.

Sugawara caught the sly smirk on his face, realising he was playing them all as Rana got on her toes and ran to the right side of the court with speed resembling lightning as the man tossed her a high-speed ball that she spikes just as she leapt into the very air. It was their misfortune that Nishinoya dived onto the group after the ball had hit the floor.

"YAY!" she raised a fist in the hair with a smile on her face, eyes closed in content. They had won the second set too, declaring them the victors of this match.

The boys were caught off guard at the speed the toss was thrown at her with. It was too fast for most of them to even perceive, enhancing the speed and pressure she hit the ball with.

Sora started to give every boy on his team high-fives with a straight face, complimenting them on their good work before going over to his sister and pulling her into a huge hug, lifting her off the ground and twirling her in the air. He was smiling ear to ear with the younger girl in his arms who was clutching onto him just as tightly, praying she won't be thrown across the room.

"My sweet little sister doing the most out there! You're amazing, nobody can beat you, my little rising star!" He was cooing at her like a child. The man had completely switched personalities, going from a serious, angry and stern but diligent acting captain of his side to a complete dotting father to his child, who in this situation was his sister.

They could not help their shock at his behaviour until they just decided to get used to it just as they had gotten used to Rana's antics. The two were siblings after all; what else could they have expected?

He put her down on the ground and grabbed both of her cheeks, shaking them slightly with a smile on his face. Giving a light pat on the head after, he walked over to the opposing Team A and patted each one on the back in appreciation. "It was a good match, everyone. It helped me understand every single one's weakness, and so I'll be helping you all with them and that includes you too, Rana." The older man turned around to point a finger at his sister.

"Me?" She asked in puzzlement, eyes turning into animated dots as she tilted her head to the side.

"Yes," he confirmed in all seriousness, "you may not be a starting spiker of the team, but you have too much to improve. Your attacks are getting predictable and your receiving is worse than a blind man's."

"But blind men can't receive-"

"Exactly."

Her shoulders fell slightly at those words before she glumly nodded, accepting all that was mere factual things.

The older Mizumoto could not help the chuckle that came from his mouth seeing his sister act so gloomy. He found it cute. Diverting his attention back to the boys, he began to speak, "You need rest from the warm-up and all the match. We're going to our house for refreshments and everything. Follow me."

Sharing looks of excitement for the break, they all began to follow him including Rana who was grabbed by Tanaka and Nishinoya to walk with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My sincerest apologies for not updating in so long! I have started college and balancing my books with my day-to-day studies is quite a hassle. I apologise once again.


End file.
